San Francisco Bay Times - August 7, 2014

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August 7-20, 2014 | www.sfbaytimes.com

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Endorsement Season

Do Ask, Do Tell Zoe Dunning As many of you may know, I was elected to the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) two years ago. This is the governing body of the party in our county, responsible for registering voters, endorsing candidates and ballot propositions, organizing phone banking and precinct walks, getting out the vote and occasionally passing resolutions expressing the position of the county party on a variety of topics and policies.

We are now halfway through our four-year term, and I am proud of all that we have achieved over these past two years under the leadership of Mary Jung, our chair. In celebration of our accomplishments, the local Democratic Party is hosting a party on August 20th at 6 PM at Laborers Local 261 located at 3271 18th Street.

I think there will be a dunk tank and I think a certain Bay Times columnist might volunteer to sit in it if enough readers come out! So please join us— tickets start at $25 and all proceeds go to support our staff and internship program. https://www.eventbrite. com/e/sfdccc-end-of-summer-partytickets-12298181191 As we approach the fall election, the DCCC and local political clubs interview the candidates and represen-

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tatives of the various ballot propositions (both for and against) and make endorsements. August is typically endorsement season, after the f iling deadlines and before Labor Day weekend. There are a few snoozers out there—unopposed incumbents who are shoo-ins, like Jeff Adachi for Public Defender, Carmen Chu for Assessor/Recorder, and Katy Tang as District 4 Supervisor.

At the state level, the most hotly contested office in the June primary was (of all things) Controller. Not the sexiest job in the world, but critically important as the individual serves as the Chief Fiscal Officer of California, makes sure the State’s $100 billion budget is spent properly, helps administer two of the nation’s largest public pension funds, and serves on 81 State boards and commissions.

There are other supervisors facing opponents, but conventional wisdom is that the incumbents are overwhelming favorites: Mark Farrell, Jane Kim, and Scott Wiener. District 10 is a little bit more interesting because Supervisor Malia Cohen will compete for votes with Tony Hall, a fairly well known figure in our city, but odds still heavily favor the incumbent in this district.

The top two candidates from the June primary get to advance to the general election this fall. The race for that coveted second place spot dragged on for weeks after the election, as the absentee and provisional ballots were counted and Democrats John Perez and Betty Yee were neck and neck. In the end, our local shero, Betty Yee, eked out the victory by the closest of margins—481 votes out of 4 million votes, or by one one-hundredth of one percent! If you don’t think every vote counts, you are sorely mistaken. This contest demonstrated that quite effectively! Betty Yee now takes on Republican Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin this November.

One thing is for sure: there will be a woman overseeing our money in Sacramento come November!

That leaves the race to replace Assemblymember Tom Ammiano in Sacramento and the state and local ballot propositions as the most interesting contests this fall. “The Davids,” Board President David Chiu and Supervisor David Campos, are seemingly everywhere as they compete for our votes.

David Chiu has a head of steam entering the fall, having bested Campos by 4% in the June primary and a campaign account flush with cash. Personally, I am supporting David Chiu. He has, in my humble opinion, accomplished more in his time on the Board than almost any other supervisor (except perhaps the Castro’s very own Scott Wiener), and has the collaboration and leadership skills to represent our district well in the state Assembly.

As for ballot initiatives, I will save my summary for the next column. Let’s just say there are lots of them and they are asking for a lot of money. Topics so far range from funding public schools and Muni, to taxing sugary beverages to whether some soccer fields should be grass or artificial surface. Stand by for that analysis!

In closing, I’m honored to share that I have been recently appointed to the San Francisco Library Commission.

Our city’s library system is one of the best in the country. I look forward to sharing more about my experiences on the commission in future columns.

Until then, make sure you return your overdue books!

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Zoe Dunning is a retired Navy Commander and was a lead activist in the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. She currently serves as the 1st Vice Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, as a San Francisco Library Commissioner, and as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club.

November Election Preview

A San Francisco Kind of Democrat Rafael Mandelman Greetings political nerds! Remember those happy bygone days when the voter information handbook was nearly as thick as a phone book? More recently, some of us may have come to fear that this not-so-new era of comity and consensus at City Hall would mean the end forever of San Francisco’s propensity for ballot box legislating. Well, friends, fear not! Chris Daly and Aaron Peskin may have long since left the building, but the allure of the ballot measure as a vehicle by which to move an agenda, settle scores or simply get some attention apparently endures under the dome.

By my count, there look to be in the neighborhood of a dozen local measures coming at the voters this fall, and that’s not even counting the various State propositions we will get to puzzle over. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, our own Supervisor Scott Wiener has his fingerprints on a couple of the more high profile and contentious items. One we have known about for a while is the sugary beverage tax, which appears likely to garner majority support but will need a two-thirds vote to pass and goes on the ballot without the support of four of eleven supervisors (Breed, Kim, Tang and 3

BAY TIMES AUGUS T 7 , 2 0 1 4

Yee) or the mayor. The other is a budget set-aside for Muni that is expected to generate an additional $22 million a year for Muni operations, with additional funding tied to population growth. The measure is strongly supported by transit advocates, but has managed to unite frequent antagonists Ed Lee and John Avalos in opposition to what both see as an irresponsible and unjustified end run around the annual budget process.

The fall’s supervisor races are shaping up to be a bit of a snoozefest, however, with District 10’s Malia Cohen the only incumbent facing more than token opposition. Challenger Tony Kelly, who lost to Cohen in an IRV-runoff in 2010, believes this is the year and he’s the guy to unseat an incumbent he argues is out of step with the District. So far, Kelly has won endorsements from the Potrero Hill Democratic Club, SF Rising, the Sierra Club, Tom Ammiano, David Campos, John Avalos and Art Agnos.

The race for School Board, where three seats are up this fall, is drawing some strong contenders. I have been very impressed with Stevon Cook, a native San Franciscan who attended public schools here before earning admission to Williams College and now works as coordinator of the PostSecondary Success Program at the San Francisco Education Fund. Stevon has shown himself to be a tireless campaigner and an impressive fundraiser. Out queers Mark Murphy and Jamie Wolfe have thrown their hats in the ring as well, a welcome development as the Board has been without an LGBT member since Mark Sanchez left in 2010. Executive Director of a workforce development agency in the Bayview, Shamann Walton is

also running a strong campaign and looks to have a good shot.

This year, as City College’s very survival hangs in the balance, this is a race that deserves the voters’ close attention. Thea Selby, a pragmatic progressive who ran a solidly respectable campaign for District 5 Supervisor in 2012, is in and looks to be a strong candidate. So too does District 11 Democrats President and San Francisco State Professor Brigitte Davila. My friend Wendy Aragon has thrown her hat in the ring, and queer activist Dan Choi looks likely to join the race as well. Amy Bacharach, who nearly won in 2012, is thinking about another run, as, I am told, are several other potential last minute additions to the field. More updates to come in the months ahead.

Speaking of City College…the Harvey Milk Club annual dinner is coming up Thursday, August 7th, and I am incredibly gratified that the Club has chosen to show its love for City College by throwing its biggest party of the year at the College’s beautiful Mission Campus and honoring a slate of City College “champions” comprised of Congresswoman Jackie Speier, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Student Trustee Shanell Williams, former AFT 2121 President Alisa Messer and myself. The keynote speaker will be the formerly incarcerated transgender civil rights hero CeCe McDonald. It is going to be a fantastic night, and I hope to see every last one of you there.

Rafael Mandelman was elected to the San Francisco Community College Board of Trustees in 2012. He is a partner at Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP.

Join us for a Bay Cruise on the U.S.S. Potomac as we honor Judge Mary Morgan

August 17, 2014 3:15 - 6:00 pm San Francisco Ferry Building, Pier E Enjoy wine, hors d’oeuvres, and fantastic views of the City. Benefits fellowships for lawyers and students focusing on LGBT civil rights advocacy.

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National News Briefs Compiled and with commentary by Dennis McMillan

Provo, UT - Blogger Fired from English Language School over ‘Homophonia’ - 7.29 Homophones, as any English grammarian can tell you, are words that sound the same but have different meanings and often different spellings—such as “through” and “threw,” “which and witch,” “their and there.” This concept is taught early on to foreign students learning English because it can be confusing to someone whose native language does not have that feature.

But when the social-media specialist for a private Provo-based English language learning center wrote a blog explaining homophones, he was let go for creating the perception that the school promoted a gay agenda.

Tim Torkildson says after he wrote the blog on the website of his employer, Nomen Global Language Center, his boss and Nomen owner Clarke Woodger, called him into his office and told him he was fired. Woodger said he could not trust Torkildson and that the blog about homophones was the last straw. “Now our school is going to be associated with homosexuality,” Woodger complained.

Torkildson says he was careful to write a straightforward explanation of homophones. He knew the “homo” part of the word could be politically charged, but he thought the explanation of that quirky part of the English language would be educational.

Nomen has removed that blog from its website, but a similar explanation of homophones was posted there in 2011 with no controversy.

Nomen is Utah’s largest private English as a Second Language school, catering mostly to foreign students seeking admission to U.S. colleges and universities. Woodger says his school has taught 6,500 students from 58 countries during the past 15 years. Most of them, he says, are at basic levels of English and are not ready for the more complicated concepts such as homophones.

“People at this level of English,” Woodger says, “…may see the ‘homo’ side and think it has something to do with gay sex.”

He says Torkildson had worked at the center for less than three months before he was terminated in mid-July. Interestingly, he was hired on April Fools’ Day. Apparently Woodger would have no men at Nomen allowed to say aloud or phone in homophones.

Source: sltrib.com

Sacramento, CA - California Has First Ever Gay Governor - 8.1 For a few brief hours last Wednesday, California had its first openly gay governor.

California State Assembly Speaker Toni G. Atkins (D), who is gay, served as the state’s governor for about eight hours while those Democratic officials above her in the line of succession were traveling outside of the state. Atkins’ turn in the governor’s seat came as Governor Jerry Brown departed for Mexico on Sunday to lead a trade mission. In his absence, Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom served as acting governor, but Newsom left California Tuesday to attend an event for the Special Olympics. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg then served as acting governor until he left for Chicago Wednesday. In the hours between Steinberg’s departure and Brown’s return later on Wednesday, Atkins served as acting governor.

“I feel so grateful to fill the role as acting governor today,” Atkins wrote on Facebook. “I wish my parents could see this. Now I know that may sound hokey to many.

But honestly…if Governor Brown wants a few more days away, I’m here for him!”

Atkins was elected speaker of the California State Assembly in March and assumed office in May, making her the first out lesbian to hold that position.

Her predecessor as speaker, John Perez, was the first out gay man to lead the chamber. Atkins became the first out lesbian mayor of San Diego in 2005.

Although she was only in the role for a few hours, Atkins became the second out governor in the nation. New Jersey Governor James McGreevey became the nation’s first openly gay governor in 2004 when he revealed he is gay the same day he admitted to cheating on his wife and resigned from office. No openly gay person has ever been elected governor to a state, although Democrat Mike Michaud, who currently serves in the U.S. House of Representatives and came out last November, is hoping to change that in Maine in his attempt to defeat Republican Governor Paul LePage.

This gives hope that one day we Cal queers can have a permanent gay governor!

Source: edgeonthenet.com

Inverness, IL - Church Music Director Fired after Engagement to Gay Partner 7.31 Colin Collette, the longtime music director at Holy Family Catholic Community in Inverness, Illinois, said posting pictures on Facebook of the happiest day of his life led to one of the worst one in which he lost his job of 17 years. While on vacation in Rome last week, Collette’s male partner proposed to him in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. Collette said “yes,” and the happy couple posted pictures of the occasion online.

After leading the music for all five Masses at Holy Family, Collette said church pastor Terry Keehan asked him to come to his office. “He said, ‘In light of this, I’d be happy to accept your resignation,’” Collette said, recounting what Keehan told him.

Collette said at first he considered resigning, but something inside him told him he shouldn’t because he had done nothing wrong. He left Keehan’s office without resigning, but was fired instead.

In a written statement, Archdiocese officials said they were aware of the action taken by the leadership at Holy Family. “The decision by the pastor of Holy Family was made with the knowledge of the Archdiocese and in consultation with the Archdiocese; however, we do not comment on or discuss an individual’s personnel issues,” the Archdiocese statement reads.

“Those that serve as Ministers of the Church, including worship ministers, are expected to conform their lives publicly with the teachings of the Church,” the statement concludes.

Collette says he is hurt deeply by the decision. “Holy Family was supposed to be a place where all are welcome,” he said, noting the church’s motto is “Inviting all to new life in Christ.”

“The face of Holy Family has been changed forever, and that’s so sad,” Collette said.

The response from his choir was overwhelmingly positive, Collette said. Their kindness and acceptance often moved him to tears.

“This has been so horrific that I just pray that we even have a wedding,” Collette said. “There’s no way to describe how horrible this has been.”

“Inviting all to new life in Christ”—as long as it’s not a gay life!

Source: dailyherald.com

Greenville, SC - Same-Sex Couples Denied South Carolina Marriage Licenses During Demonstration - 7.30

Gaston, NC - Pizza Parlor Discriminates Against Local PFLAG Organization - 7.31

Lindsey Crumbly and Halley Page want to get married in the mountains north of Greenville. And even though they were denied a marriage license, they are hopeful that by the time their wedding date comes around, 10/15/15, they’ll be able to be legally married in South Carolina.

A North Carolina restaurant owner is fielding criticism and accusations of discrimination for his refusal to support a gay advocacy group with a fundraiser at his business. Doug Rogers, founder of Johnny B’s Pizza Pad, often partners with nonprofits to host Spirit Night events. When restaurant patrons announce their support of a specified group then, Rogers donates 15% of their bill to the organization.

That sort of optimism was the overall feeling at Greenville County Probate Court during the “We Do” event sponsored by the Campaign for Southern Equality, a national organization formed to fight for marriage equality—with five gay couples applying. “In South Carolina, we’re getting closer and closer and closer to the day when we’ll go to the counter and they’ll say yes,” said the Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality.

The group was heartened by the decision by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals that Virginia’s gay marriage ban is unconstitutional. South Carolina is also in the 4th Circuit.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has said he intends to defend South Carolina’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Governor Nikki Haley said she supports Wilson’s decision. S.C. Equality announced a petition drive to encourage Wilson to change his mind. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Hooper announced he would not defend North Carolina’s ban.

PFLAG Gaston supporters feel they have been slighted. Many have railed against Rogers by calling Johnny B’s to complain or making critical posts on the restaurant’s Facebook page. Jim Kellogg, a PFLAG Gaston board member, said he feels Rogers’ decision disenfranchised the LGBTQ community. “I think it’s extremely disheartening in today’s world and today’s reality,” he said.

“Instead of spending money on our state’s crumbling infrastructure or improving education and access to healthcare in our state, Attorney General Wilson plans to waste our tax dollars defending a ban that will ultimately be struck down,” said Ryan Wilson, S.C. Equality executive director.

PFLAG’s president, Ginger Feimster, is a regular customer of Johnny B’s.

Hoping to arrange the group’s dinner there in conjunction with Spirit Night, she was turned down.

Amendment One to the S.C. Constitution was passed by voters in 2006. It banned same-sex marriage and civil unions. U.S. Census records estimate there are 656 samesex couples in Greenville County and 7,214 in South Carolina. A 2013 poll found 39% of South Carolina residents support gay marriage, compared to 21% in 2011.

Federal courts in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, Texas and Kentucky have also ruled that bans on same-sex marriage are against the constitution. A big gay thumbs-up to Attorney General Roy Hooper, and a huge thumbs-down to Attorney General Alan Wilson and Governor Nikki Haley!

Source: greenvilleonline.com

“He said he just couldn’t do it because of his personal feelings,” she said.

“He said, ‘I just don’t approve of that lifestyle, and I’m not doing anything to support it.’”

Feimster came to be president of PFLAG because her daughter, Fortune Feimster, is gay. Fortune is a successful comedian and writer regularly appearing on TV’s Chelsea Lately and Last Comic Standing.

Her mother said she’s not the type of person who marches, protests or shouts from rooftops for gay rights, but was still offended by Rogers’ refusal to be supportive. She sees PFLAG as standing for nothing more than fairness and equality. “PFLAG works very hard in a very conservative county,” she said. “There’s too much unfairness. This is yet another example.”

Fortune is fortunate to have such a supportive mom.

Local News Briefs

Source: gastongazette.com

Ex Ex-Gay Leaders Condemn So-Called Conversion Therapy

First Affordable Housing Co-op for People Living with HIV to Open in San Francisco

Nine former leaders of so-called “ex-gay” ministries have published a joint letter denouncing the dangerous practices of conversion therapy and lending their support to the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights’ Born Perfect campaign to end conversion therapy in five years.

The San Francisco Community Land Trust in conjunction with LGBTQ community leaders and others have announced plans for “Marty’s Place”—a three-story Victorian House in the Mission that for over 15 years served as a residence for people with AIDS. The Land Trust will be re-opening the house as a housing cooperative after raising $250,000 for renovations.

In the deeply personal letter, these nine leaders—including founders of Exodus International and Coming Back—recall their own struggles with being LGBTQ and what led them to proliferate these ministries. After long and painful journeys, each ultimately came to the conclusion that conversion therapy and ex-gay ministries are ineffective and harmful, especially to queer youth, and can have disastrous consequences.

In the letter, they state: “As former ex-gay leaders, having witnessed the incredible harm done to those who attempted to change their sexual orientation or gender identity, we join together in calling for a ban on conversion therapy. It is our firm belief that it is much more productive to support, counsel, and mentor LGBT individuals to embrace who they are in order to live happy, well-adjusted lives. We fully support the aim of Born Perfect to bring an end to conversion therapy.”

NCLR recently launched Born Perfect to protect LGBTQ kids from the harms caused by attempts to change their sexual orientation or gender identity. NCLR has been at the forefront of the effort to protect queer kids from these practices for more than 20 years, successfully working to help draft and pass California’s Senate Bill 1172 in 2012, the nation’s first to protect LGBTQ children from the dangers of conversion therapy. The following year, NCLR helped New Jersey pass a similar law and is now working with legislators and LGBTQ leaders in more than a dozen other states to bring protections to queer kids across the country.

“We are committed to protecting LGBT children and their families from the severe harms caused by these dangerous practices,” said NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell. “These practices have been thoroughly discredited by every major mental health organization, and yet, every day, young lives are wrecked. We intend to stop the practices once and for all.”

Story by Dennis McMillan

Marty’s Place was originally started in 1989 when Richard Purcell, a Franciscan friar, arrived here to take care of his brother who was dying of AIDS. Though Purcell’s brother died within two months of his arrival, Richard kept on caring for people with AIDS and, in 1993, acquired the property that became known as Marty’s Place in honor of Purcell’s brother.

Before Purcell died in 2011, he and the Aurora Dawn Foundation, which had been set up to help manage and raise funds for the program, bequeathed the property to Dolores Street Community Services with the understanding that it would remain an affordable place for people with AIDS. When it was determined that it was not viable for Dolores Street to re-open the residence, the organization, which runs a shelter and housing for homeless and low-income persons in the Mission, approached the Land Trust.

“The Land Trust is honored to be part of this collaborative partnership to preserve this special property and the legacy of Father Richard Purcell,” said Tracy Parent, organizational director. “In order to preserve this critical community asset, we must raise $250,000 before November to complete the necessary renovations to the house, before the founding members of the co-op can move in.”

“This is an incredible opportunity for the LGBT community: to preserve as affordable a space where people with HIV were always treated with dignity and love,” said Tommi Avicolli Mecca, longtime queer housing activist working at the Housing Rights Committee. “This is also the best long-term solution to our housing crisis. By taking land off the market, we preserve it as affordable and keep it from speculators and investors who drive up rents, displace communities and gentrify neighborhoods.”

The campaign kicked off with a fundraiser last Sunday.

Story by Dennis McMillan

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When PFLAG (Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbians and Gays) Gaston asked to be included in that promotion, Rogers declined, as he said he would with any group he deems partisan or potentially divisive. Rogers said, “It’s not my decision to determine how to live your life. I’m just making a business decision not to host that organization here because I feel like it’s not a good business decision.”

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José Sarria’s Continuing Role in the Fight for LGBT Rights

A stroll down José Sarria Court, a section of 16th Street in the Castro, is a reminder that Sarria’s achievements aren’t just relegated to the history books. His is a living legacy. For example, the Imperial Court System, which he founded in 1965, continues to grow and thrive. This network of non-profit charitable organizations throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico has raised millions of dollars for various beneficiaries supporting causes such as those related to AIDS,

breast cancer, domestic abuse and homelessness.

Entire volumes could be written about Sarria’s life and achievements, and we urge you to learn more about this remarkable man. We also ask that you help to keep his positive energy, goals and memory alive. Please consider joining us on Tuesday, August 19, for “Honoring Our Hero: Remembering José Julio Sarria” at the LGBT Community Center. The event, to the day, will mark the oneyear anniversary of Sarria’s passing, and will hopefully be the first of many such remembrances to come.

Empress Donna Sachet, Heir Apparent to Empress Nicole the Great, will serve as moderator and will be joined by a panel of Sarria’s friends as well as historians for a lively exploration

PHOTO BY RINK

Three years before the Black Cat closed in Februar y 1964, Sarria brazenly ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming one of the first openly gay candidates for U.S. public office. He received 5,600 votes, leading others to notice the emerging power of the LGBT voting bloc. Over four decades later, a street in San Francisco was named in his honor.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HEIDI BEELER

“Why be ashamed of who you are?” activist, singer and drag performer José Julio Sarria (1922-2013) once asked. Sarria, who died last year, exemplified gay pride even before the word “gay” was strongly associated with homosexuality. He was out and proud when LGBT individuals were habitually harassed and routinely arrested, somehow always maintaining his inherent grace and elegance, as well as his sharp, biting wit. He was also a catalyst for our community, telling patrons at San Francisco’s Black Cat Bar, where he performed: “United we stand, divided they catch us one by one.”

of Sarria’s unforgettable role in the fight for LGBT rights. The event itself, organized by the groundbreaking non-profit Openhouse, is history making, given that it’s the first of its kind. We look forward to seeing many of you there.

For now, we leave you with Sarria’s own words, shared in an interview with Scott Rice for the Seattle Gay Times in 2009. When asked what his legacy would be, Sarria responded, “I hope they remember me and that they remember me in a good light, remember that I wanted to help. They sometimes didn’t understand me. I did it because I wanted to help the

José Sarria (left) and Empress Nicole the Great of San Diego admire the plaque installed in Sarria’s honor at the section of 16th street in the Castro renamed José Sarria Court.

Far left, José Sarria, Empress I, The Widow Norton

other guy. Mother said, ‘What you do with the right hand comes back to you in the left hand.’ And you must like what you do. If you like what you do, they can’t supersede you.”

When asked what advice he had for young queer folks, Sarria said, “For young people, the first thing to remember or live by is nothing is impossible; everything is possible. Two, be positive. Don’t be negative. Life is not the best thing, but you have to make believe it is. I never thought I’d live to see a black president, and for him to do what he did, he is positive and he’s instilling in people that everything is possible.”

(As an aside, we can’t resist sharing Rice’s own thoughts about Sarria— then 86—after the interview. Rice wrote: “Sarria is f lirty, charming, and, frankly, a little dirty. I think I have a crush on him.”)

Honoring Our Hero: Remembering José Julio Sarria, Tuesday, August 19, from 6 -7:30pm, LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street, SF. For tickets and additional information, please visit: http://www. eventbr ite.com/e/honor ing- ourhero-remembering-jose-julio-sarriatickets-10224310187

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Oscar Wilde: Work of Genius

Rainbow Honor Walk Dr. Bill Lipsky “It’s an odd thing,” Lord Henry Wotton once remarked, “but anyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco. It must be a delightful city and possess all the attractions of the next world.” He certainly knew what he was saying. Oscar Wilde, his creator and alter ego, had visited for two weeks in 1882. San Francisco “is most attractive,” he told one reporter after his stay. With “the most lovely surroundings of any city except Naples,” he said to another, it “is the city of fine men and beautiful women!”

It remained his favorite American metropolis always.

Before his visit, Wilde was famous primarily for being famous, willing to do almost anything to get people talking about him and his “fascinating, poisonous, delightful theories.”

Although eventually he paid a huge price for its success, his strategy worked. His extravagance made him a celebrated icon of the British Aesthetic Movement, his manner satirized regularly in humor magazines, his eccentricities given to Reginald Bunthorne, a “Fleshly Poet,” in Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta Patience.

Wilde’s flamboyance raised indelicate questions about him almost from the beginning, although no one could ask them in print directly. Even Gilbert, never known for sexual frankness, described Bunthorne as having “an attachment à la Plato/For a bashful young potato/Or a not too-French French bean” at a time when a classical education taught that Platonic love was between two men—never mind what the British thought of French masculinity.

Americans were less familiar with Aestheticism, so Richard D’Oyly Carte, the operetta’s producer, approached Wilde to do a series of promotional appearances across North America. He agreed. (In a fascinating historical coincidence, Carte’s son Lucas soon began a romance with Alfred Douglas, who later became the great and ruinous love of Wilde’s life.) Because of advance publicity, Wilde was greeted everywhere by thunderous crowds.

When Wilde arrived, old American archetypes of the sturdy farmer and the hardy pioneer were giving way to a more urbane “tender ideal” of manliness. Even so, Wilde and the aesthetic values he championed—a love of artistry, beauty, taste, and pleasure—challenged gender conventions and seemed to promote “dreaded effeminacy.” Once implying weakness of character or softness of purpose, the term was becoming associated with “men who do with men,” known derisively as “Miss Nancys” and “Charlotte Annes.”

Propriety forbade reporters from discussing Wilde’s sexuality, but they used the same words everywhere to communicate that at best he was unmanly and epicene, and at worst

“unnatural.” The New York Times called him a “mama’s boy” with “affected effeminacy.” The Newark Daily Advertiser described his eyebrows as “the sort coveted by women.” The Boston Evening Transcript asked, “Is he manne, or woman, or childe?/Either,/and neither!/She looks as much like a manne/As ever shee canne;/He looks more like a woman/Than any feminine human.” Readers easily grasped their meaning.

Such clucking followed Wilde across the continent. When he arrived in San Francisco on March 26, 1882, the Daily Alta California called him an “effeminate apostle of unhealthy and morbid laziness.” The Wasp stated he was “missing everywhere his heavenappointed functions and offices,” a clear indictment of his supposed sexual desires. The Chronicle expressed concern that people would mistake him for “Charles Warren Stoddard, who he so resembled in manner and sentiment,”—but not physical appearance—“come back in disguise to greet them with a poetic and tender embrace.” Because San Francisco’s “Boy Poet” of “lavender verse” and homoerotic travel stories was widely known as a “Miss Nancy,” the paper blatantly told its readers that Wilde was, mentioning that his “tender embrace” only reinforced this view.

Regardless, his stay was a huge success.

Wilde departed the City on April 8, never to return, with all his great and enduring works still before him in that incandescent fin de siècle decade of

both his triumph and destruction: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest, De Profundis, The Ballad of Reading Gaol.

Ridiculed from coast to coast for his clothes, his androgyny, and his ideas, Wilde, however, had the last laugh. He laughed all the way to the bank.

San Franciscans continued to follow Wilde’s career. Local newspapers avidly shared the details of his trials for libel and “gross indecency,” although they could not print the specific allegations. His death in 1900 was front-page news. So was his shattered reputation. Eight years after he died, the Call and Post reported sharp criticism of a Berkeley church

journal for publishing two of his poems; given “the personality of the author the poems should have been suppressed.” As late as 1918, the paper still characterized him as “the insolent, the buoyant, the defiler of the world.”

In his final days, Wilde may have disagreed with Lord Henry’s comment, “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

By following his own advice, however, to “Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you,” he set an example for generations to come. Because, as he observed, “One’s real life is so often the life that one does not lead,” we are grateful that those of us “to be seen in San Francisco” can follow his lead to be “our fabulous selves.”

Bill Lipsky, Ph.D., author of “Gay and Lesbian San Francisco” (2006), is a member of the Rainbow Honor Walk board of directors.

Truly

WONDERFUL People.

Meet remarkable people who know San Francisco Towers is the city’s most appealing senior living community.

People like Maylene Wong. It’s the life you and your partner want—right in the heart of The City.

To learn more, or for your personal visit, please call 415.447.5527.

New Agreement Options

Maylene Wong, joined in 2005 A not-for-profit community owned and operated by Episcopal Senior Communities.

License No. 380540292 COA #177 EPSF692-01HJ 041714

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1661 Pine Street San Francisco, CA 94109

sanfranciscotowers-esc.org

Creating Welcoming Environments for LGBT Seniors from a Gay Pride Social Hour to an LGBT film festival and excursions to The Grove in Golden Gate Park.

For the past five years, Openhouse, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving LGBT seniors, has trained my team and has given them a better understanding of the life experiences and needs of the LGBT population.

Aging in Community Tom Berry As the U.S. Supreme Court was taking up the issue of gay marriage last year, Dr. John DeCecco wanted to make a difference in his local community here at The Carlisle, a senior community located on Cathedral Hill in San Francisco. He had an idea for a new resident club: A Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), inspired by high school clubs that brought students together.

Dr. DeCecco has been a trailblazer for many years. At San Francisco State University, he was a professor of Psychology and was the Director of the Human Sexuality program. He is also the former editor of the Journal of Homosexuality, an academic peerreview journal, and is a member and sponsor of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Historical Society.

Dr. DeCecco started gathering his fellow neighbors once a month to have an open dialogue around LGBT issues. As Executive Director of The Carlisle, I have a strong obligation and commitment to ensuring all of my residents are treated with respect and dignity. It’s also the expectation of the company that I work for, Sunrise Senior Living. I am fortunate to work for a company whose mission is to champion the quality of life for all seniors, and calls upon all employees to preserve dignity and celebrate individuality for all residents.

I asked the GSA to make recommendations on what we can do to ensure LGBT residents feel safe and welcome in our community. As a result, we have updated some of our move-in forms to be more inclusive, provided ongoing staff training on the needs of LGBT seniors, and sponsored events

At a recent GSA meeting, members told stories of past discrimination: one resident told of being forced to seek treatment from a psychiatrist in order to save his job. Another spoke of not outing himself until he received a major grant for a project so that his job would be more secure. Almost all of the members are not out to their families and many of them to this day are only comfortable being out to other members of the LGBT community. In San Francisco, we are lucky to have such a strong network of support for the LGBT community, but we need to build these efforts across all senior communities.

I call upon professionals working with seniors to make sure their organization is doing everything it can do to ensure LGBT seniors are living in environments where they are treated with dignity and can be open about who they are. It’s important to train our employees to be sensitive to diversity issues, ensure quality care to all residents, provide move-in forms that are inclusive to all, follow strong nondiscrimination policies, and ensure that all visitors are treated equally and with respect.

The GSA has had a positive impact on our community. As a result, a group of GSA members get together for dinners and discuss their life experiences. On Friday nights, they sit together at the social hour events.

In that spirit, I would like to make a toast to Dr. John DeCecco and the members of the GSA, for helping to drive a conversation that has resulted in more residents feeling comfortable about being themselves and forming new friendships along the way.

OurAge Fitness

LGBT Resources for Seniors

Pain Management Postural Realignment Balance Flexibility and Strength

• Openhouse: 415-296-8995 openhouse-sf.org/ • Family Caregiver Alliance: 415-434-3388 www.caregiver.org • Institute on Aging: 415-7504111, www.ioaging.org/

Richard Alexei

• National Resource Center on LGBT Aging www.lgbtagingcenter.org/

Certified Personal Trainer / Biomechanic Medical Exercise Practitioner Geriatric Specialist

• Project Open Hand San Francisco: Nutrition Services, 415-447-2300 www.openhand.org/

Osteoporosis / Parkinson’s / Alzheimer’s

415-508-9652 www.yourbiomechanic.com

• SAGE: 212-741-2247 www.sageusa.org/about/

bi•o•me•chan•ics/noun: the mechanics of biological and especially muscular activity(as in locomotion or exercise)

• Shanti Project, Inc: HIV Services and Life Threatening Illnesses, 415-674-4700 www.shanti.org/

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY - BAY AREA DISABILITY -

Alzheimer’s Association Programs and Services:

ATTORNEY HAMILTON TATUM HOLT IV

• 24/7 Helpline: 1-800-2723900, www.alz.org/norcal/; Online Community: www. alzheimersblog.org/lgbt-forum

PRACTICE DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY INSURANCE (SSDI) AND SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME (SSI) (AND RELATED CLAIMS)

• Memory Clinic, Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center: 408-5306900, mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/facilities/region/santaclara/area_master/ departments/memoryclinic/ index.jsp

(415) 465-3970

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FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION NO FEE OR COSTS UNLESS YOU WIN IN SAN RAFAEL SFBAYAREADISABILITY.COM

Dr. Marcy Adelman oversees the Aging in Community column. For her summary of current LGBT senior challenges and opportunities, please go to: sf baytimes.com/challenges-andopportunties

Tom Berry is the Executive Director of The Carlisle, a Sunrise Senior Living Community in San Francisco. He has an M.A. in Gerontology from San Francisco State University and is a former Openhouse board member.

Castro Lions Club Annual Dinner & Grant Awards

I’ve always known the

value of

PHOTO COURTESY OF GARY NATHAN

art glass.

Grants by the Castro Lions Club for 2014 totaling more than $126,000 were presented at a ceremony held at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, as reported to the Bay Times by Lions Club officer Gary Nathan. The largest gifts were two of $45,000 each to the Lions Eye Foundation and the SF LGBT Community Center for a matching grant campaign. Other non-profits receiving grants included the AIDS Emergency Fund, AIDS Memorial Grove, Bay Area Young Positives, Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, Community Technology Network of the Bay Area, La Casa de Las Madres, Lighthouse for the Blind, LYRIC, Openhouse, Pacific Center for Human Growth, Pink Triangle, Positive Resource Center. SF Cares, SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, SF Women’s Centers/The Women’s Building, St. Francis Lutheran Church’s St. Vincent de Paul, Tenderloin Tessie, and The HIV Story Project.

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Now I know the value of of mind.

peace

Max Lightfoot is amazing at finding treasures that others overlooked. Art glass is his specialty, yet he knew he’d found something valuable when he discovered The Sequoias. It ticked all his boxes - it’s a Life Care community with a central location and fabulous views. With no worries about boring chores or access to medical care, surrounded by his incredible art collection, Max can relax and enjoy life. Discover The Sequoias for yourself. Call Candiece at (415) 351-7900 to learn more.

A Life Care Community 415.922.9700 | sequoias-sf.org 1400 Geary Boulevard

This not-for-profit community is part of Northern California Presbyterian Homes and Services. License# 380500593 COA# 097

BAY TIMES AUGUS T 7 , 2 0 1 4 Job # / Name: NCPHS-NCPHS-362 SSF BayTimes_LightfootAdME01

Date: 07/23/14

Publication: Bay Times

Issue date: 08/14/14

Due at pub: 07/31/14

Round About – OLOC National Gathering Old Lesbians Organizing for Change Celebrates 25 Years Photos by Sandy Morris

By Elana Dykewomon More than 300 Lesbians over age 60 came together to plot the end of patriarchy in joyful and cranky (how not?) reunions at The Old Lesbians Organizing for Change National Gathering entitled “Lesbian Activism Changing the World: OLOC Celebrates 25 Years.” It was held in Oakland from July 23–27.

Keynote speakers Dorothy Allison, Cherríe Moraga and Chrystos moved hearts and challenged minds. The

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Writers’ Night, featuring a Tribute to Pat Parker and 10 outstanding writeractivists, kept the full house riveted all Thursday night.

This was rivaled only by the kick-ass energy of Saturday’s Bay Area Lesbian Legends/Women’s Liberation Boogie Dance Band. The event also included over 50 workshops, a daylong intensive, plenaries on class, programs on Lesbians of Color and intergenerational communication/ community, just to name a few of the

offerings that rounded out the very full weekend.

Lesbians from across the U.S., Canada, Japan, Mexico and Australia left with renewed friendship, energy and a commitment to keep changing the world!

Elana Dykewomon is an activist, author and teacher. To learn more about her, please visit http://www.dykewomon.org/ To learn more about OLOC, go to http:// www.oloc.org/

Lending Money to Family Members—Is It Ever a Good Idea? about the size of a loan and the terms of repayment, it can be difficult to find common ground.

Lack of enforcement

Money Matters Brandon Miller and Joanne Jordan It’s harder than ever for young adults to save and get ahead in our current economy. Modest incomes and college loans make it tough to assemble enough cash to purchase a car or make a down payment on a house.

It doesn’t help that credit standards have tightened, putting bank loans out of reach for those without a strong credit history.

It’s no wonder people are looking to family members for some financial help, and while you may want to help, lending to a family member isn’t always the best idea. Here are a few reasons why: Tricky to negotiate When family is involved, people tend to think with their hearts rather than their brains. Settling on terms that are agreeable to both people involved is easier said than done. One person may view the loan as more of a favor or obligation than a business transaction, setting the stage for misunderstanding. And when opinions differ

A conventional loan has built-in rules that help keep borrowers on track.

In contrast, there’s often a nebulous framework surrounding a family loan. If there’s no consequence for a late payment, there’s little incentive to make payments on time. As a result, a loan to a family member can stretch from months to years to decades, simply because it can.

Altered relationship Money has a way of driving a wedge between the best of relationships. A family loan changes the dynamics between even the most well-intentioned family members. A loan tips the balance of power, and one or both parties may find themselves feeling resentful once money has changed hands.

Suddenly the lender has the upper hand, and the borrower may feel angry at the lender’s scrutiny of spending habits. Similarly, the lender may feel entitled to be more involved in the borrower’s personal life, creating unpleasant friction.

Ripple effect A loan within the family can cause problems beyond the borrower and lender. Other family members may frown on the loan. Siblings or cousins may be jealous. Grandparents may feel protective; parents may want to intervene. Aunts and uncles may take sides. As more people and emotions are dragged into the fray, the stickier it can be.

High potential for default

Individuals who borrow money from family members often do so because their credit is shaky, which likely means the risk of default under these circumstances will be higher than average. The takeaway? Make sure you can live without the money before you part with it.

Poor rate of return Lending money to a family member is rarely a good investment if you’re weighing your return in hard dollars.

You may never see a dime of principal, let alone interest. If you’re satisf ied knowing your money helped someone you care about, then you may be okay with a low rate of return.

No going back Once you’ve extended a family loan, it’s hard to undo. The money is out there, with uncertain promise of return. Feelings can be easily hurt and difficult to repair. If you can’t afford the risks that come with loaning money to a family member, you’re well within your rights to say no. But if you do decide to provide a financial loan to a family member, do yourself a favor and consult an expert. Meet with your financial advisor to determine how a loan will impact your overall net worth and what steps you can take to make up the deficit. It’s also a good idea to draw up an agreement with terms of the loan, including clear expectations for repayment.

Brandon Miller, CFP and Joanne Jordan, CFP are financial consultants at Jordan Miller & Associates, A Private Wealth Advisory Practice of Ameriprise Financial Inc. in San Francisco, specializing in helping LGBT individuals and families plan and achieve their financial goals.

Three Stylish Cars, But Only One Knocks Your Cap Back tion, while a journalist cohort in Palm Springs claimed 40 miles on a charge in that hot and f lat clime.

The ELR’s styling was compelling enough to have attracted more hot men to my test car than any in recent memory; its sharp lines electrif ied everyone around it. The ELR places Cadillac closer to the cutting edge than it’s ever been, but it is confined for now by its overreaching price.

Auto Philip Ruth Style. They say we gays know it well.

I recently tested three cars that are loaded with style, each in their own way. The ELR is Cadillac’s first plugin hybrid; the Volkswagen Beetle RLine goes for turbo sportiness, and the Hyundai Genesis brings its own element of surprise.

First, the ELR. Cadillac gambled that it had built up its brand equity to command an eye-watering $81K for the test car, and the fact that the ELR is selling less than 100 per month means that hasn’t. The fact that “Tesla” came up whenever I said the price also means that it hasn’t. The ELR is a car to wait out until its asking prices align with its perceived value.

The $31K Beetle R-Line is full of good looks and masculine tendencies. If you’ve driven a turbo VW in the last decade, then you know this car, with its smooth shifter, compliant clutch, strong brakes and gel-like suspension feel. You have to throw a lot at the Beetle before it trips up. That depth of response is always nice.

Philip Ruth is a Castro-based automotive photojournalist and consultant at www.gaycarguy.com. Check out his automotive staging service at www.carstaging.com

Not so nice is that this fancy R-Line rang up at $31K, with still with no USB or backup camera. The R-Line’s bold wheels and sharp body detailing look good, but one can appreciate the goodness of the Beetle while still opting for a lower-spec trim in the mid$20K range, which is where I’d buy it.

The redesigned Hyundai Genesis 5.0, on the other hand, feels worth every dollar of its $55K test price, and maybe more. It is striking: the Genesis grabbed both gay and straight gazes as it rolled through the Castro.

If the ELR were priced at $50K, it would be a common sight. Its styling and interior quality are rich, and it handles well. Just don’t expect much from the battery-only mode in hilly SF. I went only 17 miles until deple9

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strength. Outside, the Genesis’s lines are tightly limned; inside, it’s beefy and textured. Engine thrust is almighty, and handling is confident.

Given the heritages of these brands, it’s ironic that it’s most plausible to pay $55K for this Hyundai than to pay $81K for the Cadillac or $31K for the Volkswagen. All three get attention, but the Hyundai knocks your cap back. It reminds you that the element of surprise powers the most unforgettable styles.

You can limit yourself to Audi, BMW and Mercedes in your premium sedan choices, but you’re missing out if you pass over this Hyundai, because it frankly alarms you with its supple combination of comfort and

Roland Schembari and Bill Hartman Co-Founders in 1978

Anger Vs. Abuse who’s right and who’s wrong, but by finding ways of being together that work for both parties. If your boyfriend is afraid of you, that’s an important issue to resolve, but you also have the right to feel free to express your feelings without having to bottle yourself up or walk on eggshells. It might help if you explore together the question of what the difference is between anger and abuse.

Kim Corsaro Publisher 1981-2011

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CONTRIBUTORS Writers Rink, Sister Dana Van Iquity, Ann Rostow, Kirsten Kruse, Kate Kendell, Pollo del Mar, Heidi Beeler, Gary M. Kramer, Dennis McMillan, Tom Moon, Paul E. Pratt, Terry Baum, Gypsy Love, Rafael Mandelman, Kit Kennedy, David Campos, Leslie Katz, Bill Lipsky, Karen Williams, Gary Virginia, Zoe Dunning, Jim Tibbs, Mark Penn, Marcy Adelman, Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis Brandon Miller & Joanne Jordan, Kippy Marks, Naomi Jay, Jamie Leno Zimron Thom Watson, America Foy, Philip Ruth, Courtney Lake, Michele Karlsberg Photographers Rink, Dennis McMillan, Steven Underhill, Phyllis Costa, Cathy Blackstone, Robert Fuggiti, Bill Wilson, Jo-Lynn Otto, Sandy Morris, Abby Zimberg

Examined Life Tom Moon, MFT Q: I come from a family of loud, working-class Italians who say what we feel when we feel it. Everyone in my boyfriend’s family is an upper middle class New Englander who never raises his or her voice, says anything “inappropriate” or expresses anger directly. I shout and yell when I’m mad, and then I’m done with it. I never get violent, but my boyfriend says he’s scared of me and wants me to go to a counselor to learn to stop being “abusive.” I don’t want to wind up being terminally polite and tasteful like his family, and I tell him that he needs to stop being so scared of honest feelings. How do we sort this out?

A: Usually when couples disagree the solution isn’t found by determining

Anger is a natural and healthy response to a perceived threat or injustice. When people are angry, they act angry. They often speak with a raised voice, excited gestures, and a red face, and none of that is inherently destructive or abusive, as long as the expressions are intended to communicate the anger and not to threaten or bully.

It’s entirely possible to express anger with passion while managing one’s temper and being mindful and respectful of the other person.

Abuse is different. While it’s associated with anger, its real source is the desire for power and control. When people are abusive, it’s rarely because they “can’t control their temper.” Most people who are abusive to others aren’t “out of control” at all.

Typically, they’re acting deliberately and with complete knowledge of what they’re doing. They do what they do because they think they’re justified

in doing it. They may believe their gender, status, race or belief system entitles them to more power than the other person or group of people. Or they may feel such a lack of power and control on a personal level that they try to compensate by intimidating others.

Here are a few ways to distinguish anger from abuse. Anger informs others about our own needs and feelings through “I” statements: abuse is about putting down, silencing, intimidating, and threatening others through “you” statements. Anger asks for attention, accountability, amends, and restitution. Abuse seeks revenge, punishment and humiliation.

Angry people own and express their own feelings. Abusive persons export their own fear to others. Anger seeks to address and resolve problems. Abuse is about overpowering and winning. Anger deals with the present issue. Abuse is more often the result of a build-up of past issues and misplaced rage. Anger is fully consistent with love because it aims at deeper understanding and connection.

It moves toward the other. Abuse is motivated by fear and hatred, and moves against the other. Anger is usually a brief flare and ends in closure.

Abuse arises from a smoldering fire of resentment, bitterness, and vengeful-

ness that is never quenched. Appropriate anger, above all, is always nonviolent, safe, and in control. Abuse is threatening, unsafe, and sometimes violent.

I suggest that, after considering the above description, you ask yourself what are your intentions when you express anger. When you’re angry, are you about communicating feelings and resolving issues, or is your real intention to get your own way by bullying and intimidating? If the latter is true even some of the time, then your boyfriend’s fear has some justification.

He, in turn, might ask himself what expressions of anger from you wouldn’t scare him. If there are none, then at least some of his fear may not be coming from a genuine perception of danger, but, as you suggest, from a phobic response to anger in general.

He might also ask himself whether his objection to your anger is always genuinely self-protective, or whether it’s sometimes a passive-aggressive attempt to manipulate and control you. None of these possibilities are either-or alternatives. Relationships are complex, and often the truth is both/and.

Tom Moon is a psychotherapist in San Francisco. For more information, please visit tommoon.net

Calling All Cat Lovers!

The San Francisco SPCA's Foster program needs temporary homes for underage kittens, until they are old enough to be adopted. This is a great short-term volunteer opportunity for animal lovers!

Can you open your home to a few orphaned kittens, or a nursing mom and her babies?

Call (415) 522-3542 or email foster@sfspca.org to sign up for a foster class.

FINAL WEEKS! CLOSES SEP 7

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR If you would like to write a letter to the editor with comment on an article or suggestions for the Bay Times, email us at editor@sfbaytimes.com. © 2014 Bay Times Media Company Co-owned by Betty L. Sullivan & Jennifer L. Viegas Reprints by permission only.

MATISSE from SFMOMA Legion of Honor Lincoln Park • legionofhonor.org This exhibition is jointly organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Major Support

Henri Matisse, The Girl with Green Eyes (La fille aux yeux verts), 1908. Oil on canvas. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, bequest of Harriet Lane Levy. Photograph by Ben Blackwell. Art © Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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Fortnight in Review Dear Virginia, There Is A Santa Clause My dearest readers. We are getting so close to marriage equality we can taste it. It tastes like dark chocolate and almonds. Or maybe like an ice cold beer on a hot day or a lobster roll with a glass of dry white wine while sitting by the ocean at a little outdoor table with an umbrella. Since we last communed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has issued yet another marriage victory in the Oklahoma case. And more importantly, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has given us a 2-1 win in the Virginia marriage case, ruling that marriage is a fundamental right that applies to same-sex couples.

By the way, let me digress. The expression “fundamental right” is a legal term, referring to a limited number of rights that are protected under the Due Process Clause. These include marriage, the right to vote, parenting rights, and several others that are steeped in history and without which the concept of liberty would be meaningless. Note that when a fundamental right is in question, courts use the most exacting scrutiny to evaluate the case.

At any rate, I don’t know how many times I’ve been reading the comments about one of these appellate victories, and I’ll find someone who protests: “Since when is marriage a fundamental right?” Or “there’s no right to marriage in the Constitution!” But hello, Mr. Moron! Marriage has been characterized as a fundamental right in over a half dozen major Supreme Court cases as well as many other lesser opinions. Even our archest enemies acknowledge that marriage is a fundamental right, although they then proceed to argue that “same sex marriage” is a contradiction in terms that should not fall under the M-word to begin with.

Moving on, here’s the interesting thing. Both the Tenth Circuit opinion and the Fourth Circuit opinion are going to be appealed directly to the Supreme Court. This means that we won’t have to drag our heels through a year or so of review by the full circuit courts. Instead, we’ll go straight to the top dogs in Washington, who will no doubt accept one or both of these cases for their 2014/2015 session.

Meanwhile, we have another big appellate court showdown this week.

As you may know, we have won every federal and state court marriage case over the last 13 months or so, but I have to say, this week’s involves sailing through troubled waters. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is hearing arguments on several cases emerging from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. The panel assigned to these marriage suits includes two George W. Bush appointees and one Clinton pick.

Now, we never like to make assumptions based on politics alone. But these are fairly conservative judges, and it is quite possible that our run of victories could come to an end in the Sixth Circuit. Many legal analysts will be keeping a close eye on the oral arguments in an effort to glean insights into the mindset of the two Bush judges, so by the time you read this column, there should be quite a few articles on line. Check them out!

Cabin Fever In addition to Virginia, the Fourth Circuit covers the Carolinas, plus West Virginia and Maryland. Now, Roy Cooper, the North Carolina Attorney General, has announced that his office will no longer defend the Tobacco State antigay marriage laws, and in fact will urge the district court judge in his state’s case to rule in favor of mar11

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riage equality. Cooper told a press conference that the legal issues were decided, and that continuing the case would be an exercise in futility.

Cooper’s South Carolina counterpart, Alan Wilson, has gone the other way, vowing to keep on fighting for traditional marriage. His only hope, however, is that the High Court will definitively rule against same-sex couples and give states the right not only to ban in state weddings, but also to ban recognition of out of state marriages as well. Somehow, I don’t believe that’s going to happen, do you?

Meanwhile, two more state judges in Florida have recently struck the Hurricane State’s antigay amendment making three Florida rulings in our favor, all put on hold. Oh, and here’s some good news. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has rescheduled oral arguments in the Indiana and Wisconsin cases. It will hear both appeals on August 26, and the court has declined a motion to put the cases before the full appellate bench. That’s good for us, because the full Seventh Circuit runs red. Actually, since we don’t know the composition of the three-judge panel, we can’t speculate. But we have a chance.

I’m sure there’s much more marriage news. Indeed, I see here from my list that everyone is expecting the federal case against Arizona to pop into the headlines shortly. But I think we’ve covered the subject enough for today.

By the way, I am writing to you from the North Fork of Long Island, the anti-Hamptons if you will, filled with fresh corn, delicious local wines and plenty of steamer clams. Everyone is about to head for the beach, but I will remain in this cute little cabin where I will devote myself to your edification.

You’re welcome.

Games Gays Play So, you should know that the Uganda Supreme Court, or whatever it’s called, has struck the country’s new antigay law, which is nice.

Unfortunately, they did so on a technicality since the law was passed without a quorum in the legislature. In theory, it could rise from the dead, so don’t go booking passage to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest just yet. Oh, I see here it’s called the Constitutional Court, so there you go.

And guess what! The Gay Games are about to start in Cleveland. I’ve always had a bee in my bonnet about the Gay Games, which feel like an anachronism. The whole point of sports is to pit yourself against the best, right?

Would anyone want to watch the Gay Masters Tournament, or the Gay French Open? No! Plus, who cares if some middle-aged lesbian wins the silver medal for fencing in the over-50 bracket? The whole thing was set up as an alternative to the Olympics at a time when we were all shunned and sitting in a closet. So while we have not yet arrived at the promised land of full civil rights, we’ve certainly traveled beyond the need for a gay-only week of sports. (Editor’s Note: See pages 13–15 for an opposing view.)

In other news bits, a gay bar in Denver has been nailed for discriminating against a customer in drag who was refused admittance. The Civil Rights division of the Ski State’s Department of Regulatory Agencies ruled that the Wrangler bar violated drag queen Vito Marzona’s right to public accommodation when they turned him away last summer. The bar claimed they did so because they could not verify his identification. But it seems that the Wrangler has a pattern of favoring butch bear clientele. Bad bar!

Oh, and how about the new coffee table book that will feature gay men’s

Professional Services artistic renderings of vaginas? Two Oakland collaborators came up with the idea for Gay Men Draw Vaginas after a couple of their buddies made attempts to capture the elusive details on paper. Shannon O’Malley and Keith Wilson subsequently set up artist booths around the Bay Area, asking gay men to try their hand. The result will eventually evolve into a 220-page coffee table book, and from what it sounds like, a must for every sophisticated GLBT living room. The only problem will be raising the $37,000 publishing price via kickstarter. But if I know my community, I don’t think they’ll have much of a problem. This is exactly the kind of project that brings us all together.

By The Numbers Here’s an interesting story. The Center for Disease Control’s National Health Interview Survey has announced that 1.6 percent of adults call themselves gay or lesbian; .7 percent say they’re bisexual, and 1.1 percent either don’t know or won’t answer. That leaves 96.6 percent in the heterosexual category. We are also more likely to smoke and drink, and gay men are more fit than straight men.The numbers are slightly lower than other surveys, which generally peg the GLB population at around 3.5 percent. But they’re not that far off base, particularly when you factor in some of the closet cases in the 96.6 percent. But what makes the story newsworthy is the reaction from the conservative press. All sorts of headlines seem to indicate that the GLB community is up in arms about the survey, and insisting that our numbers are higher. Further, the articles suggest that most Americans somehow think gays represent up to 25 percent of the population, and that we ourselves are promoting this misconception. Finally, some articles imply that the GLB community is not large enough to qualify for civil rights, and certainly not large enough to justify the attention that has been lavished on us in the last few years.

In fact, no one’s up in arms, although some suggest the numbers might be a little low. Second, I have never seen any evidence that Americans assume one in four people are gay. Say what? I know our countrymen and women can be clueless at times. But not this clueless. And as for our status as a minority, does anyone think that antiSemitism may be ignored because only 2.2 percent of Americans are Jewish? (I liked the take on this issue presented by Mark Joseph Stern in Slate.)

Almost Beach Time What else shall we talk about? I read about a police chief in western Wisconsin who got so mad at a local Tea Party politician that he signed the guy up for a porn site, a gay dating site, and Obamacare. Campbell Police Chief Tim Kelemen will face 40 hours of community service plus some counseling for his misdemeanor offense, but his victim, Greg Luce, wanted him to lose his job. The two men were at odds over some Tea Party protests on an overpass that Chief Kelemen thought were dangerous. When the Chief convinced town leaders to ban protests on the bridge, Mr. Luce convinced his followers to bombard the police station with calls. Chief Kelemen then devised his mischievous computer hijinks and the rest is history.

• • • • • • • •

Are these really two grown men?

Oh, and Luce is now filing a federal lawsuit, charging Kelemen with identity theft and a violation of his First Amendment rights, presumably the right to free speech while hanging over an interstate highway and distracting drivers. (continued on page 26)

Read more @www.sfbaytimes.com and check us out on Twitter and Facebook.

Pledge Your Soulful Purpose Now ARIES (March 21–April 19) Commit to creative projects, Aries. It’s time to “go big or go home.” Prioritize plans before taking the plunge. Avoid energy burnout by reserving time for relaxing reflection. better.

Astrology Gypsy Love Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist spent over 300 weeks as a New York Times best seller. A global phenomenon published in more than 80 languages, it’s the most translated book by any living author. Coelho’s whimsical tale depicts the exponential power of love, portraying life’s uncertainties as precious treasures that activate one’s personal destiny. Astral currents concur with this concept. Pledge your soulful purpose now. Per Paulo, “When you want something, all the Universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

TAURUS (April 20–May 20) Ego trips are overrated, Taurus.

Improve rapport with relatives and intimate partners by exercising compassion. Restoring rifts in your root system is highly recommended now. Big change is brewing.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Is your rousing mind restless for a new challenge, Gemini? Let’s get physical! Seek new ways to optimize your wellness routine.

Knowledgeable gurus are eager to guide you now.

CANCER ( June 21–July 22) Sharpen your special skills, Cancer. Investing effort to develop unique talents will boost your confidence, benefit your finances, and bolster your career. Be the master of your own earning potential.

LEO ( July 23–August 22) Your mighty roar is more exuberant than ever these days. Apply this confident “can do” attitude toward ventures that advance your higher learning. The sky’s the limit, Leo!

VIRGO (August 23– September 22) As the zodiac’s ambassador of analytical thinking, you’re quite accustomed to the bustling buzz of an overactive brain.

Your psyche seeks a revival now, Virgo. Rest. Release. Repeat as needed.

LIBRA (September 23– October 22) Take the leap, Libra.

Your social status soars to new heights now. Ambition amps up as exciting collaborations motivate you to mold passions into profits.

Manifest your magnificence!

CAPRICORN (December 22–January 19) Cosmically, Capricorns are coined the “responsible” ones. Surrendering to the unknown is likely to cause more than a little discomfort. And yet, it’s the only answer. Let go, lover.

SCORPIO (October 23– November 21) Surprising developments at work could serve to strengthen your stature, Scorpio.

The stars solicit you to step into your authentic power. Assert your right to make a difference.

AQUARIUS ( January 20– February 18) The stars suggest that you recalibrate the connection between your rep and your relationships. Can they coexist, Aquarius? If not, then make the necessary adjustments so both can still thrive.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22–December 21) Nope, that’s not indigestion. A mysterious longing arouses the depths of your subconscious, Sagittarius. Cater to senses that stir behind the scenes now.

Your soul speaks in whispers.

PISCES (February 19– March 20) Never underestimate the importance of inner peace, Pisces.

As you navigate volatile astro-vibes, it’s imperative that you make meaningful amendments to your mindand-body methods. Zen out. www.GypsyLoveProductions.com

Gypsy Love Productions is dedicated to inspiring love and unity with music, dance, and astrology.

As Heard on the Street . . .

compiled by Rink

What is your favorite sport to watch? What is your favorite sport to play?

Troy Brunet

Jim Oerther

Toby Hostings

Jerry Wilder

Sister Dana

“I like to watch championship pool on TV, and play pool.”

“I am a good old-fashioned American man so baseball is my favorite sport to watch.

My favorite sports activity is cycling.”

“I follow baseball.”

“I watch tennis and play golf.”

“My favorite sport is to watch LGBT Nite Out with the Giants battling home run after home run.”

Steven Underhill

PHOTOGRAPHY

415 370 7152

WEDDINGS, HEADSHOTS, PORTRAITS

stevenunderhill.com · stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com 12

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Gay Games IX August 9–16, Cleveland/Akron, Ohio

The Future of Team SF Is in Your Hands

Photographs courtesy of Team San Francisco, Federation of Gay Games and Gay Games IX Presented by the Cleveland Foundation

By Martha Ehrenfeld Cleveland…really, Cleveland? That was my reaction five years ago when a friend on the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) board announced that the games were coming to Northeast Ohio in 2014. Cleveland in August to me then meant humidity. It was the place Mary Ann from Tales of the City had left never to return.

Fast forward to a day before the games, and I have since become a member of the Team San Francisco board, as well as the Sports CoChair for the FGG and a member of the Cleveland steering committee. I have become SF’s biggest Cleveland fan. Now, after each person responds with, “Cleveland…really, Cleveland?” I always ask, “Have you been there? I have and it is lovely.”

(a 3000+ LGBT multi-sport event that’s been held in Las Vegas for the last two years) athletes from CA or NY were not so excited about going to Cleveland, but the folks from Minnesota and Indiana got it. It meant something special that the FGG did not fly over the middle of the country.

Team SF has been trying hard to get the LGBT sports community excited about attending the games. Cleveland is excited and ready. With wonderful Midwestern charm, great sports facilities, and large community support, Cleveland won the bid in 2009.

ing parks, actual seasons and so much more. But it’s been challenging convincing people of such things. Cleveland fan or not, keep in mind that this is the last time the Gay Games will be in the U.S. until at least 2022.

Cleveland isn’t as bad as you think!

It has some great architecture, amaz-

By bringing the games to the Midwest, it will lead to positive change,

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and it already, in fact, has. Many Cleveland-based companies came on as sponsors because their children said it was the right thing to do. It has brought Northeastern Ohio’s LGBT community together in a new and unifying way. When promoting the Gay Games at the Sin City Shoot Out

The future of Team SF as a functioning group seems unknown. It needs your participation and support to survive!

Most of the Team SF board members will probably step down this year. It is our hope that a new generation of volunteers will step up and lead Team SF to Paris in 2018. In the end, one

thing is sure, all the athletes that will march in the opening ceremonies on Saturday, August 9, will experience a very special night.

Don’t then be so quick to make that snide remark about Cleveland. Cleveland? Yes, Cleveland!

Martha Ehrenfeld is a member of the Team SF board of directors, serves as Co-Chair of Sports for the Federation of Gay Games, and is a member of the Gay Games IX steering committee. For more information about Team SF, please visit http://teamsf.ning. com/

Gay Games IX August 9–16, Cleveland/Akron, Ohio

Gay Games Fever

Get Ready! Get Set !

Karen Williams

line-up that includes Lance Bass, the Indigo Girls, Anne E. DeChant, and the Pointer Sisters, as well as a 10hour dance party, concert bands and a chorus that can’t be believed, GG9 promises to make sure that Cleveland is the place to be for everyone!

One Night Only!

Star of Logo TV’s “I Need A Snack”

LAUGH OUT LOUD

Karen @ The Sanctuary First Grace Church Saturday, August 16, 2014 7:00 PM First Grace Church

With

“KAREN WILLIAMS is a laugh riot.”

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350 S. Portage Path, Akron, Ohio 44320

Main Floor Tickets: $25 Balcony Seats: $20 *VIP Tickets: $50

“KAREN WILLIAMS is ferociously funny, with perfect pace, timing and structure.”

-- SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Featured artist KAREN WILLIAMS shares her wildly funny comedy with devoted fans on Olivia Cruises and Resorts, where she’s been on over 150 trips around the globe since 1990.

*include Preferred Seating & Post-Show Reception with KAREN WILLIAMS

OLIVIA TRAVEL will be in the house giving away trips, so make sure you’re there!!!

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LAUGH OUT LOUD & KAREN WILLIAMS Is closing out the Akron-Cleveland 2014 Gay Games Celebration VIP Tickets benefit the Food Ministries & Akron AIDS Collaborative @ First Grace Church

Get Tickets Today at

For More Information from a Live Person: 330-431-0677 Steve 440-479-7475 Sati This Show is For Adults Only! Thank you!

By Karen Williams Here on the North Coast, we’ve got Gay Games fever!

That’s right! We’re here! We’re queer!

And we’re sporty!

Everything’s coming up spectacular at the Cleveland-Akron Gay Games 2014! Officially dubbed GG9, the festivities begin with the fabulous Opening Ceremony kick-off to a week of sports, entertainment, culture and excitement for thousands of participants, enthusiasts, volunteers and spectators from around the world!

From the Rainbow Run—dedicated to legendary artist Keith Haring, lesbian activist Rikki Streicher, and Dr. Tom Waddell (co-founder of the Gay Games)—at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Plaza to the entertainment

I’ve got friends coming to town from all over the country for dance competitions, rock climbing, badminton, bowling, rowing, swimming, volleyball, wrestling, and more. For your Official Guide to the 2014 Gay Games, go to www.2014gaygames. com T he O pen i ng Ceremony t a kes place on Saturday, August 9, at the Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland—the same place where the King, LeBron James, will be playing again. I’m sure LeBron decided to come back home when he heard that the Gay Games were gonna be in town. That’s my rationale and I’m stickin’ to it!

The festivities continue throughout the week, with special features like a dance party for women called “Hot Time in Cleveland” on Friday night, August 15, the Closing Ceremony in Cleveland on Saturday, August 16, and my solo comedy show “Laugh

Out Loud! with Karen Williams” in Akron—the co-host city thirty minutes south of downtown Cleveland and the site of many of the sporting competitions.

There’s gonna be a White Party, a Black Party, a Gold Party, a Rock the Block Street Fest, Flair Fest, and outdoor festivities galore. To accommodate lesbians and other folks who are excellent with highlighters, there’s a special website for circling events and creating Excel spreadsheets to keep track of every place you want to attend. Simply log on to gg9cle.com/ plan-my-visit/event-schedule/ and color away.

You’ll have a blast getting to know Cleveland culture and, of course, watching the sports competitions too. I know I’m planning to be very popular that week with my VIP wristbands. Don’t waste time being jealous. Just come on over to Cleveland and Akron and join in the fun!

“Bay Times” columnist Karen Williams will be competing in the unofficial eating contest that will take place at every Gay Games event. She is also a lover of words.

To learn more, please visit http://www. hahainstitute.com

A Gold Medal for LGBT Athletics & Equality for worldwide protest and activism against draconian LGBT oppression.

More gay Olympians came out, and more straight athletes declared their support, than in any other Olympiad.

Even our President, Barack Obama, refused to go to Sochi as a solidarity gesture, while sending a delegation of past American LGBT Olympians in his stead.

By Jamie Leno Zimron The Gay Games IX torch is about to be lit in Cleveland! Early August is exactly six months since the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia, which gained worldwide notoriety over the host country’s oppression of gay people and new homophobic laws endangering both LGBT residents and visitors. What greater contrast and achievement could there be than this fabulous, fun-f illed, Olympic-style gathering of over 10,000 gay athletes and straight allies, competing and celebrating sport together with pride?

2014 has already shaped up as a watershed year in the march towards full human rights for our community. Marriage equality is now the law in 19 states, District of Columbia, 17 countries and counting. College football star Michael Sam has made history by coming out and then becoming the first known gay player to be drafted by an NFL team. The word “Sochi” is emblazoned into international consciousness, not as the glorious showcase of Russia that President Vladimir Putin spent over $50 billion on, but as a lightning rod

When former Olympic decathlete Dr. Tom Waddell founded the Gay Games over 30 years ago in San Francisco, I think he envisioned what this event has grown into: an entire movement that: 1) provides vast new opportunities for LGBT people to play, compete and enjoy athletic activity; 2) promotes equality, diversity and inclusion for everyone on all the playing fields of life; 3) challenges sexist and heterosexist sports ‘norms,’ changes stereotypes, and opens up every avenue of play and work for our community.

With all the gains we’re enjoying, some people ask whether the Gay Games are still relevant. To me that’s like asking whether we still need Pride Parades. The answer is a resounding yes! We particularly need such events so long as it’s legal anywhere to jail and even execute people for being gay, to exclude or unfairly to fire LGBT people from jobs, for gayrelated bullying and suicides to go on, for locker room epithets of “faggot,” “sissy” and “dyke” to be thrown around daily and be tolerated, and for

gay athletes to live in emotional and economic jeopardy if they dare let their sexuality be known. We are all too familiar with the litany. And we know that we are propelling powerful positive changes in society and our own personal lives through such farreaching events as Pride and the Gay Games.

So what will be different in Cleveland, as for prior Gay Games, than in Sochi or Olympic Committee venues?

1) Almost all your playing partners and fellow competitors are gay! In Cleveland, it’s safe to be an out-athlete and you’re even in the majority.

The Gay Games are open to all, and about 10% of the athletes who will participate are straight.

2) When you win and want to deliriously hug and kiss your teammates and family members, you can! And you can do so freely with no worries or weirdness, same or opposite sex. If you lose and want to sadly hug or cry, you can, freely, with same or opposite sex significant others.

3) You can walk around town/the “Olympic village” holding hands or arm-in-arm with your same-sex partner or spouse.

4) You can come and compete, without needing to be an elite athlete who’s been preparing since you were a kid. The Gay Games is a sporting event open to everyone, with various age and ability-level categories, designed for all people to play and enjoy the fun and rewards of sports competition.

5) Diversity, Inclusion, Participation, Personal Best, Gender Equality are expressly part of the mission, values and operational policies of the Gay Games. You can feel good being part of an event and a cause that congruently promote inclusive participation, personal potential, and progressive social change.

6) Sexual equality is gaining ground in the Olympics, with women’s ski jumping and boxing added just this year. But, for now, only at the Gay Games can you cheer men’s synchronized swimming and same-sex figure skating, body building and dance pairs!

7) The Federation of Gay Games recognizes the need for equal access for male and female athletes, for minority athletes, and that gender identity may be f luid. The FGG is pioneering beyond traditional notions and (continued on page 26)

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Gay Games IX August 9–16, Cleveland/Akron, Ohio

Gay Games IX Tom Waddell Award Winners

By Doug Litwin The international Federation of Gay Games manages the quadrennial Gay Games from right here in San Francisco. Created in 1990 at Gay Games III, the organization began giving the Tom Waddell Award as its highest honor. Every four years, the award recognizes one man and one woman for their outstanding contributions to the international Gay Games movement and the federation’s mission of equality through sport and culture.

On August 9 at the Opening Ceremony of Gay Games IX in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena, the male recipient of the Tom Waddell Award will be San Francisco’s own Gene Dermody, another native of New Jersey. Gene is a true living legend within the Gay Games, and his accomplishments are too many to list in a single article.

Gay Games I changed Gene’s life in 1982, and he has spent every day since then paying forward the gift of Dr. Tom Waddell. Gene has served the Federation of Gay Games in a variety of capacities. He has been a key leader in many organizations, including the Golden Gate Wrestling Club, Wrestlers WithOut Borders, and Team San Francisco. He has given

Gene Dermody

selflessly of his time, energy and expertise, often at a personal and financial cost, yet always with the goal of sharing the precious tool for personal discovery and empowerment that are the Gay Games. About his experience at Gay Games I in 1982, Gene said, “I had finally come ‘home’ after a very long exile.”

The female winner of the 2014 Tom Waddell Award is Elvina Yuvakaeva, a brave young Russian who only discovered LGBT sport in 2011. Seeing the power of sport to change lives, she chaired the Russian Open Games, the countr y’s f irst international LGBT multisport tournament. Held

Elvina Yuvakaeva

in Moscow between the Sochi Olympics and Paralympics, the Games showed international solidarity with Russian LGBTs and used sport to fight rising homophobic repression.

Facing constant attacks from government authorities, including venue cancellations, bomb scares, and even a smoke bomb attack, Yuvakaeva and her team bravely responded with calm energy, dignity, and restraint, and saw the Open Games through to the end. She is a hometown hero in Moscow, and someday deserves to be honored in San Francisco just as Dr. Tom Waddell and Gene Dermody have been.

SF Street Will Honor Gay Games Co-Founder and LGBT Activist Dr. Tom Waddell Gay Games VIII Moments

By Doug Litwin A one-block stretch of Ivy Street between Van Ness and Polk in San Francisco will be named Dr. Tom Waddell Place, in honor of the Gay Games co-founder. A resolution authored by Supervisor Jane Kim proposed the naming, and the SF Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in favor of it on July 29. The timing of the actual naming has not yet been announced.

Waddell was a true all-American hero with deep roots here in San Francisco. Originally from New Jersey, he was a great athlete who studied medicine at Springfield College and Seton Hall University before being drafted into the army in 1966. After protesting plans to ship him to Vietnam, he was sent to train as a decathlete for the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. There, he finished sixth out of 33 competitors, scoring a personal best. He moved to California in 1970 and, four years later, started a private practice on 18th Street in the Castro.

In the 1980s, Waddell worked at the City Clinic in San Francisco’s Civic Center on the street now named for Lech Walesa. (It is this very same street that will be renamed in Waddell’s honor, following multiple homophobic statements made by Walesa in recent years.)

Waddell’s impact on the LGBT community was felt in 1982 when he and a handful of bold pioneers founded the Gay Olympics. This led to the infamous lawsuit f iled by the U.S. Olympic Committee to prevent use of the word “Olympics.” The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court and the ruling led to an 11th hour change to “Gay Games,” an event which has taken place every four years since in cities around the world. At the forthcoming ninth Gay Games in Cleveland/Akron, hundreds of San Franciscans will participate in the spirit of Tom Waddell. Founded on the principles of “Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best,” the event continues 15

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to change the world, inspiring thousands for 34 years and counting.

Waddell died July 11, 1987, of AIDS. His life has been chronicled in print and on f ilm, including an autobiography called “Gay Olympian,” which was co-authored with sportswriter Dick Schaap. Locally, the public health clinic where Waddell worked (50 Lech Walesa Street) was re-named in his honor.

Among those who spoke on behalf of the resolution to rename Lech Walesa Street Dr. Tom Waddell Place were Waddell’s widow, Sara Waddell Lewinstein, and their daughter Jessica, born in 1983, mid-way between Gay Games I and II. Committee member Supervisor Scott Wiener said, “It is long overdue. Tom Waddell was one

of the greatest leaders in the history of our community. In particular, in light of Lech Walesa’s homophobic comments, it is a win-win in terms of renaming the street for Tom Waddell.”

San Francisco will soon then have five streets named for LGBT people.

In addition to the forthcoming one for Waddell, these include streets already named after Jose Sarria, Alice B. Toklas, Jack Kerouac, and Vicki Marlane.

Doug Litwin of Team SF has been involved in every Gay Games since GGII in 1986 as a sports and cultural participant. He has also served continuously as a member of the Assembly or Board of the Federation of Gay Games since attending his first annual meeting for the federation in 1999.

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#KateClinton2014

“When I heard Republicans talking about Sue, the president, my first thought was, ‘Is she a lesbian?’”

Arts & Entertainment Luscious Queer Music Festival: Northern CA’s First LGBTQ Music Fest Luscious Queer Music Festival will take place at Saratoga Springs Retreat Center in Upper Lake, California. Northern California’s first LGBTQ music festival begins August 22, 2014, and continues through Sunday, August 24, 2014. Saratoga Springs Retreat Center sits among tall hills in a beautiful, secluded valley in Northern California, an easy two and a half hour drive north of San Francisco.

How did this all come about, you might wonder?

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LUSCIOUS QUEER MUSIC FESTIVAL

By David O’Steinberg

Ruven Hannah

Chas Nol

Page Hodel

nah brought in DJ extraordinaire Page Hodel as consultant to help with festival planning, and then added DJ Justin Justime as Assistant Executive Producer. Nol, Hannah and staff have been working for months readying every last detail for the festival.

Hannah, a solo performance artist for many years, has produced his own shows and other queer events. “My role for Luscious as executive producer has been to coordinate all the elements needed for a fantastic party—a great line-up, a fabulous setting, tasty food and, most importantly, a great audience. We think this talented and eclectic group of musicians will make the festival a fun, exciting event.”

Vicki Randle with Skip The Needle

Justin Justime

Chas Nol, Managing Director, Saratoga Springs Retreat Center: “I love going to music festivals and enjoying the sense of community and joy. I’ve always hungered for a music festival that showcases the enormous talents of the Queer community. And I’ve loved being at retreats and events with my Queer family feeling that common bond. It’s been our long-held vision to create a festival of music by and for the Queer community. We think an event with all our friends and family will be rich and luscious.”

Now co-owner of Saratoga Springs, Nol envisioned a queer music festival inspired partly by East Coast queer music festival, Out In The Woods.

He quickly tapped fellow Saratoga Springs co-owner, Ruven Hannah, as festival Executive Producer. Han-

Luscious features eclectic music by equally eclectic queer performers, including Grammy performer Mary Lambert, the trans-sensational Mx. Justin Vivian Bond, women’s music pioneer Chris Williamson, the funk and soul of Skip The Needle featuring Vicki Randle, Bear community favorite Matt Alber, Joni Ginoli of Marga Gomez

Cris Williamson

Holcombe Waller

Mary Lambert 17

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PHOTO BY NIVEA CASTRO

Pansy Division in a solo set, and others. Throw in fabulous comedian and performer Marga Gomez as the festival’s main MC, great DJs, a Comfort

Gina Breedlove

& Joy Afterglow party and what’s not to like?

Along with a good time with good friends in nature, Luscious will raise funds for, and awareness about, LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers.

Think Uganda, Russia, Nigeria, and Iran. A portion of festival proceeds will go to queer asylum groups ORAM (Organization for Refuge, Asylum And Migration), JFCS/East Bay’s LGBTI Refugee and Asylee Program, and Refugee Guardian Group. These organizations provide legal and other assistance to international LGBTQ people seeking asylum. ORAM’s founder and executive director Neil Grungras will speak at the festival about queer asylum.

Hannah says, “The over-arching goal of our festival is to make an impact on

Justin Vivian Bond

(continued on page 26)

Babs-ylonia Delicious Excesses Lovingly Parodied in Buyer & Cellar Out actor Michael Urie is perhaps best known as f lamboyantly gay Marc St. James in the TV dramedy Ugly Betty, but he’s unforgettable and perfectly cast as Alex More in the one man show Buyer & Cellar, which runs August 19–31 at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre. Alex is a struggling Los Angeles actor who f inds himself working in Barbra Streisand’s basement, which in real life is like a “street of shops,” to use Streisand’s own words.

Bay Times co-publisher and Streisand admirer Jennifer Viegas purchased some items from the “shops” when the acclaimed LGBT champion and singer/actress/author/songwriter/ producer/director had a cleanout a few years back. Viegas reports that Streisand is somehow both decadent and frugal, having previously saved almost everything over the years, with many items well used and gifted by friends. The dresses, mostly Donna Karan designed, still had a whiff of Vol de Nuit perfume, for example, and her cookbooks were thumbed through—supposedly by Streisand herself—with favorite pages bent.

Both Streisand fans and detractors have been charmed by Buyer & Cellar, which received rave reviews in New York. As David Rooney of the New York Times wrote, the play is “a seriously funny and remarkably sustained slice of absurdist whimsy on which both Barbra lovers and haters will be sold.”

We were thrilled to interview Urie, who is also a talented director and producer, ahead of the play’s San Francisco run.

SF Bay Times: We’ve heard that Streisand fans must see this show. Why? Michael Urie: The bigger the Streisand fan, the more you’ll catch.

The show is chock full of Streisandisms. Jon Tolins has brilliantly used his vast Babs knowledge all over the show, and I understand from mega fans that it’s simply delightful to keep eyes and ears open and find the clues.

But, while those tidbits are gems for the fans, they are also just good story telling for the layman, so fear not, anti-fans.

SF Bay Times: If someone isn’t a Streisand fan, why would they still enjoy it?

Michael Urie: I’ve spoken to people after the show who’ve never even heard of BS—I know, I know, perish the thought—and they love it.

The play insists that you use your imagination; I’m just a guy playing a bunch of characters (no wigs, no make-up—no nails!!!), and our set is just a simple neutral white room.

You, the audience, are required, with my help, to conjure all of the other characters, and all of the wonderful rooms in Barbra’s basement mall. By the end of the show, fan or no fan, you’ve participated in the telling of this story. Like a great campfire or bedtime story, you’re involved in the show’s visualization.

SF Bay Times: Has Streisand herself ever seen the show? If so, what happened? If not, what would you do if you knew she was in the audience, or if you saw her sitting in the front row staring up at you?

Michael Urie: Ha! If she sat on the front row, there’d be no show. The audience would go crazy and I would poop myself. She has not yet been, and there are explicit instructions

that I, and the audience, be in the dark about it if she should show up.

SF Bay Times: We cannot even fathom what it’s like to carry a one-man show like this. What’s it like from your perspective?

Do you ever get anxious before going on stage? How can you work without having feedback from other actors?

Michael Urie: I get anxious. There are nights when I think, “Tonight’s the night I have my nervous breakdown,” but mostly it’s a joy to tell the story. The audiences have so much fun getting surprised by the tale that I still get giddy at spinning it for them.

Being alone on stage is terrifying, but also thrilling, and having Jonathan Tolins’ brilliant words to speak give me confidence for days. I know they’re good and as long as the audience is listening (and I don’t mess it up), we’re all going to have a blast.

Not having other actors to bounce off of is very challenging, and I deeply miss that relationship. There are no other actor-brains around, so nobody really truly “gets” me, even though the crew is wonderful. But, on the other hand…I get all the glory! And if comedy is all about timing, which it kind of is, I never have to rely on anyone else’s timing. If something doesn’t time out correctly, I’ve got no one to blame but myself.

SF Bay Times: W hat do you hope audience-goers will take away from the show?

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Michael Urie: That I’m handsome.

Just kidding! That the show is hilarious, and touching, but has very universal themes. I want the audience to leave thinking about materialism, the class system and isolation, but I always love it when people tell me their faces hurt from laughing.

Please come to the show! I’ll give you lots of memories with which to light the corners of your mind.

For tickets and additional information, please visit https://www.shnsf.com/online/buyer

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Editor’s Note: Welcome to our Weddings, Anniversaries & Occasions section. Inquire how your social announcement can appear free of charge, or how your wedding services ad can be included at a special rate: Publisher@sfbaytimes.com or 415-601-2113.

Happily Ever After Usually Comes with Fair Fights Since couples come to me, almost universally, for a wedding only and not for pre-marital counseling, I usually don’t have a lot of input as to what will make their marriage successful.

The most common element most couples seem to agree is essential is good communication. But the phrase “good communication” by itself seems too broad, too generic, and not specific enough to inform each partner through all of the stuff that life brings. For instance…

What about when you are totally shocked by an idea your partner has, something completely unexpected, and not anything you would ever think of?

What about when you’re pissed as hell about some idiotic thing she or he has done?

Handsome and happy husbands Samuel and Joseph Calandrino contacted the Bay Times to share the news of their recent wedding celebration in L.A. It was also their 10 year anniversary!

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Weddings Reverend Elizabeth River What about when you stand on completely opposite sides of the fence?

What about when either of you are in the heat of jealousy?

What about when you can’t seem to get over being mad, when you simply can’t see his or her point of view and you’re so sure you are right?

And how about when your two families have taken totally opposite viewpoints in your controversy?

Or when you know you completely screwed up and cannot stand to admit that?

Or when disaster strikes when you least expect it?

What does it mean to “fight fair?”

(See Tom Moon’s piece on anger vs. abuse on page 10.) Does this mean that there’s to be no name-calling?

Telling the truth as you see it, and at the same time, not saying things in a hurtful way? Listening patiently without interrupting? An agreement to be able to walk away for a time and come back to the discussion when everyone has cooled off? The answer is not set in stone.

No matter how deep your love or how solid your commitment is, you are going to have disagreements, even “fights.” Set some loving ground rules, so you can both survive these battles with your teeth and marriage vows intact. If you can do this, the rough seas may test your marriage, but they won’t sink it. Your home will likely be both happy and harmonious.

Rev. Elizabeth River is an ordained Interfaith Minister based in the North Bay. For more information, please visit www. marincoastweddings.com

PHOTOS BY MARIA OLECH

Now I will say that most of the couples I marry arrive at my door already having done a lot of the work of “pre-marital counseling.” That is, they have talked at some length about what is important, what is likely to make a strong permanent marriage, and what they are willing to do to make their marriage to work. Some even write these aspects of their commitment directly into their vows.

Healthy responses to these sticky situations probably won’t be included in your vows. But discussing how you’ll approach one another when you feel like you can’t communicate at all will go a long way toward knowing what to do when you find yourself in these choppy waters.

PHOTOS BY CHLOE JACKMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO BY JOS STUDIO

Ergo Depot founder David Kahl and his husband Mark Holloway were tossed skyward by loving friends and family who attended their recent wedding in Portland, Oregon.

For upcoming editions of the Bay Times, co-publisher/editor Jen Viegas will work from an ergonomically sound desk and chair from Ergo Depot.

Jen was welcomed to the furniture showroom on her recent birthday by managers Collin and Michael.

Love Around the World of a same-sex couple, but also help to lay a groundwork for other such ceremonies throughout Japan.”

On our recent trip to Japan to speak on LGBTGQ rights and marriage equality, we had the honor of addressing the crowd at Pink Dot Okinawa, a wonderful event with over 1,000 attendees who were treated to music, dance, speeches, and a beautiful marriage ceremony for Kazuki and Harold. When the happy couple exchanged vows, there was not a dry eye in the crowd.

Kazuki is from Okinawa, while Harold is American. Because they met during the days of DOMA, they had to go into exile in order to be together. Luckily, they were able to find work, live and marry in Canada. During that time, Kazuki’s family back in Japan was not accepting of their relationship, but over the years their love has prevailed. An emotional highlight of Pink Dot Okinawa was the reading of a touching letter written by Kazuki’s mother to celebrate the love of her son and son-in-law and to express her wishes for their happiness as a married couple.

Amazing events don›t happen by themselves, and Pink Dot Okinawa is no exception. It is the brainchild of Hideki Sunagawa, an activist and HIV/AIDS community worker for over a quarter century, and one of the founders of Tokyo Pride.

Hideki is also an academic with a PhD in cultural anthropology, and he brings that wisdom to his activism. In Hideki’s own words: 21

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Marriage Equality John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, Marriage Equality USA “Though at this point in time Japan provides no legal recognition or protection for same-sex couples, we have reached a point where more and more same-sex couples are holding ceremonies like their heterosexual counterparts. Many gays and lesbians have been encouraged by these open and public celebrations of love and devotion, and as a result feel far more hopeful about building a future with their partners…the truth is that in Japan, most LGBT people with life partners do not or feel as if they cannot introduce them to their families.

As such, I’ve come to think that by holding a public ceremony here in Kazuki’s birthplace of Okinawa, we may be able to provide some hope for both those in the audience and Okinawa’s local LGBT community in general…it is our belief that this event will not only allow the people of Okinawa to put faces to the idea

This dream became a reality at Pink Dot Okinawa 2014 because of Hideki and an amazing team of hard-working and fun-loving volunteers who created a loving space in the central square of Naha, Okinawa. There are too many wonderful people we met there to name everyone individually, but we were inspired by the tireless efforts of Norito Irei who was with us from beginning to end, even introduced us to Okinawan cuisine, and then joined us for a presentation the following day at Okinawa University, where he spoke movingly about his own experience growing up gay in Okinawa and what it’s like coming out there and in the United States.

Pink Dot started in Singapore and now includes events for LGBTQ acceptance around the world in places as diverse as Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Montreal, and Salt Lake City.

Our trip to Japan and the experience of Pink Dot Okinawa has filled us with hope in the power of love to create change around the world.

John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, together for nearly three decades, were plaintiffs in the California case for equal marriage rights decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008. They are leaders in the nationwide grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA.

Man at Bath Provocatively Explores Intimacy and Coping

Film Gary Kramer Christophe Honoré’s 2010 film Man at Bath, now out on DVD, is a provocative investigation of the disintegrating relationship between Emmanuel (beefy French porn star François Sagat) and Omar (Omar Ben Sellem).

Emmanuel is the “man at bath.” As Omar spies on his lover toweling off after washing, Honoré is paying homage to artist Gustave Caillebotte’s painting of the same name.

In an email exchange, writer/director Christophe Honoré explained that Man at Bath came about as a project for the Théâtre de Gennevilliers. “Every year, they invite a f ilmmaker to shoot a short f ilm, with the only requirement being that you have to shoot it in the city.”

Honoré said that he met François Sagat around the time of the project and took the opportunity to film the actor and his body as “a canvas, a study for a male nude.” The filmmaker explained the appeal of having Sagat star in Man at Bath.

“I think he belongs to a generation that has already disappeared, the

The result is not traditional “pornography,” but a striking film that focuses less on constructing desire and more on ways of depicting the truth of the gay relationships. Honoré acknowledged, “The scenes that usually reflect the intimacy of a gay couple mostly remain off-screen. The film is an object of contemplation, surprising, but familiar at the same time.”

Man at Bath also offers Honoré a chance to explore his own identity as a filmmaker, casting Omar Ben Sellem as his alter ego in the film. Honoré revealed, “I’m always trying to put something personal in my works—to

As the film opens, Omar is about to leave the Paris suburb of Gennevilliers for a film screening in New York City. However, Emmanuel forcibly sodomizes him first. Omar insists that Emmanuel must leave their home before he returns.

Photograph courtesy of Nate Goudy

Join the glitterati for this historic occasion!

Honoring Our Hero: Remembering José Julio Sarria Before Ellen...before Harvey...there was José.

Join moderator Donna Sachet and a distinguished panel to explore José’s historic role in the fight for LGBT rights.

August 19, 2014 Cash bar 6:00 p.m. ~ Panel 7:00 p.m.

Man at Bath juxtaposes how both partners respond to this “breakup.” While Emmanuel pays a visit to Robin (Dennis Cooper), and poses nude for him, Robin insults the muscled stud, calling him “kitsch.” Meanwhile, Omar attends a seminar his actress Chiara Mastroianni gives at the School of Visual Arts, and becomes besotted with Dustin (Dustin Degura-Suarez).

Omar soon films Dustin in various locations and in various stages of undress and arousal.

Honoré’s f ilm is sexually explicit, with ample nudity including erections, but it is less about sex, and more about how the lovers each cope with their breakup. Omar f ilms Dustin to examine the love and intimacy he wants with Emmanuel. That Emmanuel gives Rabah (Rabah Zahi), a teen he meets at Robin’s, Omar’s bathrobe, and poses him in front of images of Omar, suggests he is projecting his love and desire for Omar onto this boy he has access to in Omar’s absence.

TICKETS $20 advance tickets before Aug. 12 $25 after and at the door (if available)

rememberingjose.eventbrite.com Proceeds benefit Openhouse programs for LGBT seniors

Sister Dana sez, “Can you believe the donothing Repugnicans are actually suing President Obama for doing his job?! Really? I mean - reeeeeally?!!”

UP YOUR ALLEY LEATHER FAIR was last Sunday. It was truly lovely leather weather (say that three times fast), and the heat brought out many a weenie waving in the wind and other forms of semi-nudity to full undress at the clothing-optional fair.

Sister Dana the fervent reporter was seeking out something new under the sun; but alas, this nun found none.

Perhaps I am just too jaded - having gone to every EssEff leather fair since the dawn of time.

There were furries, plushies, leatherfolk, rubberfolk, and all manner of costumes. An S&M t-shirt spotted: “I always hurt the one I love” as a takeoff on the classic song. Steamworks featured their traditional Naked Twister Game: “left hand red on butt” with participants putting themselves in preBAY TIM ES AUGU S T 7 , 2 0 1 4

For Honoré, the depiction of nudity, sexuality, and intimacy are “the object and the subject” of the film. The filmmaker enjoyed the challenge of filming the erotic scenes and wanted to use his camera to explore what he described as “Sagat’s exceptional body and his lovers’ insignif icant ones.” His purpose was “to study these various types of bodies” and the humanity of the men who have them, yet “not lead to any sexual excitation for the audience.” However, some viewers are likely to be aroused by the explicit sex scenes featuring Sagat and Degura-Suarez, separately.

translate into shots the questions and thoughts in my mind at the moment the film happen. With Man at Bath, I looked at intimacy, both as love and as sexual intimacy, and I wanted to mix this ref lection with fiction and documentary. Therefore, I added a filmed diary onto the fiction of a romantic breakup.”

For the f ilmmaker, Man at Bath, is less a film and more what he called “a workshop project.” He continued, “It was not meant to be screened in the cinemas, only (to be) shown at the Theatre de Gennevilliers. It is an exercise of freedom and invention…

And it has been a happy moment of my work life.” © 2014 Gary M. Kramer Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” You can follow him on Twitter @garymkramer

Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun

LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market St.

22

cult of toughness—based on the cult of femininity that was very popular among women models at the end of the Eighties. François’s body seems to relate to the violence of men, their ability to seize control and impose themselves.” But, he adds, “Francois’ (work) as a porn actor—he is mostly a bottom—makes this violence, this power, seem fake, a sham.”

carious positions. Every imaginable sexual accoutrement was available for sale, as was every possible taste in adult DVDs. The Official Folsom Leather Gear booth offered myriads of ways to express leather pride - from head to toe. UCSF Health Alliance offered free rapid testing for HIV. SF Department of Public Health had their usual dildo ring toss for prizes.

Resources for trans men who play with men had info at tm4m.org. K9 Unit housed human puppies in cages to be petted and pampered. Careful! They might bite! The 15 Association gave out pamphlets for safer SM play.

There you could strap yourself to a St. Andrew’s Cross for a whipping, spanking or flogging. SF AIDS Foundation and Magnet had various pamphlets for safer sex and a “Name That Hanky Code” game. My favorite booth is always the Bare Chest Calendar benefiting AIDS Emergency Fund and Positive Resource Center. Of course there was dancing in the streets to hot leather beats.

I ran into the always gorgeous Tita Aida at the Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center booth, where she told me of her recent return from the International AIDS Conference in Australia. She said the global situation

is bad, what with human rights violations and transgender discrimination; but they are hopeful by 2020 with education and medication to have an AIDS-free generation. Amen to that!

GLAAD (GAY LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST DEFAMATION) rewrites the script on LGBTQ equality. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to positive change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love. That’s why the public is invited to celebrate the most outstanding images of the LGBTQ community in the media at the largest, most visible queer gala in the nation, the GLAAD MEDIA AWARDS. Held in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco with over 5,000 attendees, the 25th annual GLAAD Media Awards bring celebrities, corporate partners, media professionals, and young adults together in support of GLAAD’s mission to amplify the voice of the LGBTQ community and achieve full equality. This year’s SF GLAAD Media Awards is held September 13th at Cityscape, high above the SF Hilton hotel. (continued on page 26)

Set the Mood, Set the Table

Style Besides a delicious meal, creating a beautiful table is part of the “gift” a host gives his/her guests. A pretty tablescape enhances the mood as well as works to elevate the overall experience of the evening. The tablescapes I do for clients and myself are meant to be dramatic, but none of them are out of your reach.

Laying out a tablescape is very much like designing a room: you need a color story, strong foundational pieces as well as accessories and accents that support your overall theme. Here are

PHOTOS BY ADZA

Courtney Lake

some quick rules that I follow when putting together a tablescape: Think about what you already have.

When I go shopping, I think about the decorations I already have when deciding what to purchase. Groupings of similar objects, whether they be by color, shape or material, create a larger impact than a single object. Do you already have two glass candlesticks and see one on sale? Buy it, even if it doesn’t match!

It will be worth the investment when you are able to pick and choose from a variety of candlesticks of varying heights to create a layered look.

Borrow from your momma.

Don’t be above usi ng other people’s stuff to create a show-stopping table.

Have you been coveting your best friend’s Waterford crystal and have an important dinner coming up? Borrow them! No one has to know that they aren’t yours. Just remember that when you borrow someone’s precious and undoubted ly expensive table items, you incur the

risk of breakage. So, go by the rule: if you can’t afford to replace it, then you shouldn’t borrow it.

It doesn’t have to match.

People get hung up on sets and I am here to tell you, get over it! You don’t need to have a matching set of anything to have a dynamo table. I tend to buy in sets of 2,3 or 6 when shopping for plates, glasses or table settings, since the maximum amount of people my table holds is 6. By shopping in these increments, I can mix and match patterns to create interesting color, pattern and texture stories that look intentional.

F lora l arra ngements aren’t central.

I tend to shy away from expensive centerpieces for my table settings. I cheat by buying a mixed bouquet and placing it in an interesting container or vase and bam! Instant centerpiece.

Courtney Lake is the interior designer and lifestyle expert behind Monogram Décor (www.monogramdecor.com) and his celebrated blog, Courtney Out Loud. He and his work have been featured both in print and on television, including coverage by “The Wall Street Journal,” “The Nate Berkus Show,” the “San Francisco Chronicle,” “Life & Style Magazine,” “RUE Magazine” and “7x7 Magazine.”

Genre Attraction betrayed “fun” for secrets. So no one will know he loves words. Because lovers of words were thought to be weak and effeminate. And effeminate boys were strange and strange things don’t last very long in this world. So I read to find my own hand inside the books. To touch myself on each page, saying, “I am here. I am here.

I am here.”

Words Michele Karlsberg

(Ocean Vuong is a recipient of a 2014 Pushcart Prize and the author of No (YesYes Books, 2013). His poems appear in Poetry, The Nation, Beloit Poetry Journal, TriQuarterly, and the American Poetry Review, which awarded him the 2012 Stanley Kunitz Prize for Younger Poets.)

Michele Karlberg: What genre are your books and what draws you to this genre?

Jennifer McCormick: My genre is science fiction and fantasy.

Ocean Vuong: My genre is poetry.

What draws me to this genre is the limitless possibilities the genre has to offer. I’ve always liked to look up at the stars and think, “I wonder what is out there?”

I think I am drawn to it because, in the space of the poem, I am often writing to the terrif ied versions of myself. And maybe all I really want to say—if anything at all—is that you (whoever you are) are not alone.

Maybe because this is what some of the most important writers in my life have been telling me over and over again in their myriad and unique ways. I go back to the boy I once was, the boy who hid in the library during recess to read a book covered in his lap so no one will know he has 23

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Science fiction and fantasy give us the chance to explore those infinite possibilities, to imagine what life would be like on other worlds different, and sometimes not so different, from our own.

Another aspect of the genre I find appealing is the world building.

Building a world in science fiction is both fun and challenging because the world and its people need to be f leshed out, the history of the world presented to the reader in a way that is entertaining. It falls to the author to create a universe that is as rich and diverse in culture as our own, and that task can be challenging at times.

In a world that has been created entirely from the author’s imagination, no rules exist to govern the nature of that realm. Every place, every creature, and every culture needs to be given the customs and laws that make it function as part of the whole. It can be a daunting process, but in the end it is well worth the work to be able to look back and glimpse into a world that lives and breathes on paper. ( Jennifer McCormick is the author of The Midas Conspiracy and the fantasy novel The Withering.)

Michele Karlberg Marketing and Management specializes in publicity for the LGBT community. This year, Karlsberg celebrates twenty-f ive years of successful book campaigns.

See many more Calendar items @ www.sfbaytimes.com

compiled by Robert Fuggiti

“Decades Apart: Reflections of Three Gay Men” will be at the Exit Theater August 14-16.

The Quest For An HIV/ AIDS Vaccine – SF Commonwealth Club. $8-$20. 6 pm. (595 Market St.) www.commonwealthclub.org. Join for a lecture led by Donald P. Francis, M.D.,DsC, Executive Director, Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases; Former Director, AIDS

Laboratory, Centers for Disease Control.

The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club 2014 Dinner – City College of San Francisco. $40+. 6 pm to 9 pm.

(1125 Valencia St.) www.milkclub. com. The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club’s 2014 Dinner and Gayla celebrating a host of City College champions.

Comedy Bodega – Esta Noche.

Free. 8 pm. (3079 16th St.) www. estanocheclub.com. Enjoy the weekly comedy variety show happening every Thursday.

The Habit of Art – Eureka Theatre. $10. 8 pm. (215 Jackson St.) www.therhino.org. Theatre Rhino remounts its hit spring production of The Habit of Art. Alan Bennett’s new play is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music.

Totally Fabulous Happy Hour Benefit – El Rio. Free cover. 4 pm to 6 pm. (3158 Mission St.) www.elriosf.com. Enjoy drink specials and free oysters on the half shell, with all bar proceeds benefitting The Coalition on Homelessness.

Deaf Louder: The 2nd Bay Area Deaf Dance Festival – Dance Mission Theater. $25. 8 pm. (3316 24th St.) www.dancemission.com.

Enjoy a festival that proudly celebrates deaf culture.

The Miraloma Park Series – A Woman’s Eye Gallery. Free. 12 pm to 5 pm. (678 Portola Dr.) www. awegallery.com. Enjoy an artist’s recepetion with Catherine Sky as she shares her unique and alluring paintings from her latest series entitled Miraloma Park.

Sex and the City Live – Victoria Theatre. $15. 8 pm. (2961 16th St.) www.velvetrageproductions.com. A drag rendition featuring Heklina (Carrie Bradshaw) (Trannyshack / The Golden Girls) D’Arcy Drollinger (Samantha Jones) (S**t & Champagne), Lady Bear (Miranda Hobbs) (Roseanne) and Special 24

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Guest Alaska (Charlotte York).

Club Rimshot – Bench and Bar. $5.9 pm. (510 17th St.) www.benchand-bar.com. A weekly LGBT hio hop and R&B night with resident DJs Rum, DJ Chris and DJ Olga.

Pillar Point Harbor Kayak – Betty’s List & Blue Water Ventures. $85. 10 am. (Pillar Point Harbor) www.bluewaterventures.org. Join the naturalist of Blue Water Ventures and the women of Betty’s List for a great day on the water and beyond.

Women’s Social – Francis of Assisi. Free. 3 pm to 5 pm. (145 Guerroro St.) www.openhouse.org.

Come join other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) women for food and conversation.

Glamazone – The Café. Free. 9 pm to 2 am. (2369 Market St.) www.cafesf.com. Enjoy drink specials during the day and drag performances through the evening.

In Conversation with Jason Collins – The Castro Theatre. $10-$20. 6:30 pm. (429 Castro St.) www.commonwealthclub.org. The NBA’s Jason Collins is the first out athlete in major American pro sports.

The Men’s Story Project – SF Commonwealth Club. $7-$20. 5:30 pm. (595 Market St.) www.commonwealthclub.org. A storytelling and dialogue project in which men publicly share life stories that explore social ideas about masculinity, through the lens of their own experience.

LOL Mondays – OMG Bar. Free.

8 pm. (43 Sixth St.) www.facebook.

com/LolAtOmg. Enjoy a special Pride Month night of gay laughs hosted by Valerie Branch.

August Mega Make Contact – Design Plus Consignment. Free for members of GGBA/$20 nonmembers. 5:30 pm. (333 8th St.) www.ggba.com. Make contact and connect with LGBT & Allied business professionals at this month’s Make Contact event, held at a different member business location each month.

Trivia Night – Hi Tops. Free. 10 pm. (2247 Market St.) www. hitopssf.com. Test your trivia knowledge at this popular sports bar.

Beach Blanket Babylon – Club Fugazi. $25-$130. 8 pm. (678 Green St.) www.beachblanketbabylon.com.

Enjoy Steve Silver’s famous musical revue packed with hilarious pop culture and political antics.

Closing The Gap: Crucial Transgender Issues Today – SF Commonwealth Club. $8-$20. 6 pm. (595 Market St.) www.commonwealthclub.org. Internationally renowned expert Cecilia Chung will explore the challenges that face transgendered people and solutions that will bring us all forward toward full equality.

Gay Bowling – Mission Bowling Club. $15. 5 pm to 8 pm. (3176 17th St.) www.missionbowlingclub. com. Mix, mingle and meet new friends at this weekly bowling social.

SOLO Sisters: Lady Parts – StageWerx. $15-$30. 7 pm. www. vanessakhaleel.com. An excerpt

from an evolving, revolving collection of “shorts” that explore the dark and hilarious corners of inheritance, parenting, and internalized misogyny.

Go Deep – El Rio. Free. 8 pm to 2 am. (3158 Mission St.) www.elriosf. com. Cruisy guys, drag queens and man-on-man lube wrestling make this a night to remember.

Monster Show – The Edge SF. Free. 10 pm. (4149 18th St.) www. qbarsf.com/edge. Cookie Dough hosts an unpredictable cast for a wild show.

Nightlife – California Academy of Sciences. $12. 6 pm to 10 pm. (55 Music Concourse Dr.) www.noisepop.com. Enjoy a fun evening of science, cocktails and live music.

Dreamgirls – Fox Theatre. $35$55. 8 pm. (2215 Broadway St., Redwood City) www.broadwaybythebay.org. The sensational musical Dreamgirls runs from August 15th through 31st at the historic Fox Theatre in Redwood City.

Friday Live – El Rio. Free. 10 pm.

(3158 Mission St.) www.elriosf.com.

Friday Live is a queer dance party with hip hop and house music.

Friday Nights at the De Young – De Young Museum. $11.

6 pm to 8:45 pm. (50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr.) www.deyoung.famsf. org. Enjoy the museum in a fun, festive and dynamic atmosphere with live music and cocktails.

Decades Apart: Reflections of Three Gay Men – Exit Theater. $25. 8 pm. (156 Eddy St.) www.theatermania.com. A multimedia theatrical performance that captures significant moments in the lives of three gay American men from different eras and cities.

Works in Progress: An Open Mic for Women – Firesdie Room. $7-$10. 6:30 pm. (424 Monte Vista, Oakland) ZeiserpoetMC@aol.com.

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of WIP with special guest Anna Maria Felchero.

Midnight Show – Divas. $10. 10 pm. (1081 Post St.) www.divassf.

com. The premier transgender club in San Francisco, with live DJs and performances.

martunis.com. Sing along to your favorite songs with friends and patrons.

Silicon Valley Pride – Discovery Meadow. $10. 10 am to 7 pm. (Discovery Meadow, Guadalupe River Park, San Jose) www.svpride.com. Join Silicon Valley’s first ever Pride with guest headliners including Kristine W, Cazwell, and Deepa Soul.

Remembering José Julio Sarria – LGBT Community Center. $20. 6 pm. (1800 Market St.) www.openhouse-sf.org.

Openhouse is proud to bring together the family who loved and admired José on the first anniversary of his passing.

U.S.S. Potomac Bay Cruise – SF Ferry Building. $125. 3 pm. (SF Ferry Building, Pier E) www. pridelawfund.org. Enjoy wine, hors d’oeuvres and fantastic views.

Benefiting fellowships for lawyers and students focusing on LGBT civil rights advocacy.

Switch – Q Bar. $5. 10 pm to 2 am. (456 Castro St.) www.qbarsf. com. A weekly lesbian dance party.

Sundayz – Beatbox. $8. 3 pm.

(314 11th St.) www.beatboxsf.com.

The best t-dance party in town with a newly renovated dance floor and state of the art sound system.

Gregory M. Herek: Beyond Homophobia – SF Commonwealth Club. $7-$20. 5:30 pm. (595 Market St.) www.commonwealthclub.org. Drawing from social science research findings, including his own studies over the past 30 years, Gregory Herek will explain the value of looking beyond the usual conceptions of homophobia to develop a better understanding of stigma.

Monday Night Bluegrass – Amnesia. Free. 6 pm. (853 Valencia St.) www.amnesiathebar.com. Enjoy a night of Bluegrass music on every Monday night at this cozy Mission bar.

Piano Bar 101 – Martuni’s. Free.

9 pm. (4 Valencia St.) www.dragat-

Trivia Night – Hi Tops. Free. 10 pm. (2247 Market St.) www. hitopssf.com. Test your trivia knowledge at this popular sports bar.

Last Drag – SF LGBT Community Center. Free. 7 pm to 9 pm. (1800 Market St.) www.lastdrag.com. A free quit smoking class for LGBT and HIV positive people.

Castro Farmers Market – Noe St. at Market. Free. 4 pm to 8 pm. (Noe St. at Market) www. pcfma.com. Enjoy fresh produce and local made foods and delicacies.

Happening every Wednesday.

Booty Call - Q Bar. $4. 10 pm to 2 am. (456 Castro St.) www.qbarsf. com. Juanita More! hosts this weekly party with hot guys, strong drinks and fun dance mash ups.

Visit Us Online at sfbaytimes.com

CASTRO

ruits f m o r “F s” FARMERS’ MARKET to nut

WEDNESDAYS

4PM - 8PM

This August at the market: Free Spirit Farm from Winters has lots of melons, like Crenshaw and watermelon, loads of gorgeous fat juicy blackberries, and cut flowers.

Happy Boy Farm brings leafy green mixes that can make up the bulk of a tasty summer salad. Carrots, beets, potatoes, rainbow chard, herbs and kale are also on display. Everything that Happy Boy sells is certified organic.

August Events: 8/6-8/13: “Enter to Win” a backpack and gift card to Cliff’s Variety!

NOE ST. BETWEEN

MARKET ST. & BEAVER ST. 1.800.949.FARM • pcfma.com/castro

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BAY TIM ES AUGU S T 7 , 2 0 1 4

(SISTER DANA continued from page 22) Prior to the big event, GLAAD threw selfie on a stick to photograph everya launch party at Cityscape to talk up one. She gave a shout-out to Sister the awards gala. Lauren Custer Dana and threw a fake snake at this Dowling, vice president of develop- rather surprised nun. Tita introduced ment, noted the theme is “Game the Miss GAPA candidates: Brenda Changers,” and will focus on the tech Dong, Carney Asada, Lily Rose, world - Silicon Valley, for instance. Livivan Truong, and La Moni Ricky Carter, special events associ- Stat, and the Mr. GAPA contestants: ate manager, revealed a few of the Demigod Roki of ASSGuard, celebrities that will be featured, includ- Kenekai Carson, and Franz ing Peter Paige of Queer As Folk Fame, Vincent Lacanlale. co-producer with Jennifer Lopez of TV’s The Fosters; Alex Newell who For the fantasy section, Lily (having plays trans teen Unique on Glee, out- run for Miss GAPA for five years) held spoken LGBTQ ally Meghan the Susan Lucci of GAPA title, and McCain, and Taryn Manning, who bitterly ripped her tiara into bits. La is Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett of Moni Stat was the Indian goddess Kali Orange Is the New Black. The plaintiffs with all six arms waving in a dance. from HBO’s Case Against 8, Sandy Roki was instructed onscreen by Steir & Kris Perry, will also be hon- another god, and then broke into the YMCA dance. Carney was a bearded ored. glaad.org version of the Sunset Boulevard dame RUNWAY 26, VILLAINS & singing live from that stage musical.

FEMMES FATALES was the MR. & Kenekai gave a moving monologue MISS GAPA PAGEANT at Marines’ about his scary diagnosis and respondMemorial Theatre, hosted by Tita ing, “If life gives you lemons, make lemAida. The three competitive segments onade.” Livivan danced and interpreted were Themed Costume, Fantasy, and an unrequited love affair. Franz must Eveningwear/Interview. It was the have sensed victory, as his t-shirt said: time for Mr. and Miss GAPA 2013 Sir “Mr. GAPA 2014.” He led the audience Whitney Queers & Khmera in a cheer and the “Olé, Olé, Olé” song.

Rouge to step down as they lip- Last but not least was Brenda (whom we synched “I’ve Had the Time of My recall last year pelting the audience with Life” from Dirty Dancing. But suddenly her fried chicken). This year she was a Khmera’s evil twin had Sir Whitney bizarre entertainer at a children’s blindfolded and kidnapped. Tita had a birthday party - smearing the cake all

over her naked (fake body suit) body.

Halftime entertainment was by the Rice Rockettes doing a sexy number, “Cell Block Tango,” from Chicago.

For his swan song, Sir Whitney sat blindfolded at a keyboard, playing and singing “Titanium,” and then still blindfolded performing amazing acrobatics (he is, after all, a member of Cheer San Francisco), flying high in the air and into the arms of his fellow cheerleaders. For her final presentation, Khmera screened a video of her many appearances over the year to the song, “Lady in Red.” Finally the judges (Kristina Wong, Kat Evasco, Jesse Mandapat, Trevor Nguyen, and Holy McGrail) returned with the results: first prince and princess were Kenkai and Carney; second prince and princess were Demigod Roki and Lily Rose; and welcome your new Miss GAPA Brenda and Mr. GAPA Franz!

CUMMING UP! SEX AND THE CITY LIVE has a very short run this time around, and unfortunately must end August 10th.

After selling out its run in June 2012, and its sold-out smash run for 11 months in 2013, Sex and the City: LIVE! is back with two brand new episodes: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 8pm; Sunday, 7pm at the Victoria Theatre, (ROSTOW continued from page 11) I know it’s not a gay news story, but there was the bit about the gay dating site. So… This is the moment when I can launch into a new topic, or merely sprinkle my final 150 words in a light dusting of random observations. The next topic on my list happens to be a Washington Post article about how evangelical gays are starting to embrace openly gay celibacy. As more and more people recognize the dangers

2961 16th Street (between Mission & Capp Streets). Tix are $30 at sexandthecitylive.eventbrite.com. If you haven’t come to know this talented trio of drag queens, it’s high time you did discover them: Heklina as Manhattan fashionista Carrie Bradshaw, D’Arcy Drollinger as oversexed Samantha Jones, and Lady Bear as lovable Miranda Hobbes, with Alaska from RuPaul’s Drag Race as practical Charlotte York. Playing Mr. Big is delightful drag king Leigh Crow, along with two studs, Jordan Wheeler and Andy Alabran. As always, the show begins with a video takeoff on the HBO TV show’s Carrie getting her designer dress splashed by a passing car. And, as usual, Carrie’s inner monologue (silent to the other characters) constantly narrates the action for us. After each segment an appropriate well known song snippet plays as a witty editorial of the previous scene. Feel free to sing along.

Episode one is all about monogamy.

Who wants it and who has no need for it? When does one assume monogamy kicks in? After the first date? The fifth?

When does sex become routine or worse yet- nonexistent? Can one substitute chocolate for sex? How far does one draw the line in sex? What’s totally taboo? At what point in the relationship can one comfortably pass gas?

of conversion therapy, these brave Christians are choosing to accept their sexual orientation, while keeping themselves chaste for Jesus. WTF? Look, they can do whatever they want, and be whoever they want to be. But there’s nothing courageous about announcing you’re gay and then swearing off sex and romantic relationships. It’s the whole Rick Perry gays-as-alcoholics metaphor, promot-

(GAY GAMES continued from page 14) divisions of male/female sports, and is providing new opportunities and role models for lesbian, gay, trans and genderqueer athletes.

As such, there is a women’s division for every sport where there is a men’s division; in many sports, there is a mixed-genders division; scholarship and sponsorship funds are available; and every effort is made to consciously address and eliminate sexism, heterosexism, racism and transphobia from the Gay Games athletic experience.

8) In Cleveland, LGBT athletes will be strengthening and celebrating their own inner sense of athleticism, while raising the profile for all gay people in the sporting world. The Gay Games help make it more and more possible to be athletic and out, and can increasingly serve as a breeding ground (in-

THEATRE RHINOCEROS presents THE HABIT OF ART, a very British comedy by Alan Bennett (The History Boys) directed by John Fisher, return engagement, through August 23rd, Wednesdays - Saturdays, 8pm; Saturday matinees, 3pm, at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street. Info at therhino.org Sister Dana sez, “The New York Times just put at 60% the chance that Tea Party RepubliCAN’T extremists will gain control of the Senate. We absolutely cannot let that happen!!!”

ing the notion that our lives and marriages are inherently immoral and unhealthy. Sadly, we may have to accept ourselves, but that doesn’t mean we have to submit to temptation. Really? You want a pat on the back for that? Not from me.

Hmmm. Looks like I finished with a topic after all arostow@aol.com

nuendo intended!) for successful elite and professional out-athletes.

9) In addition to all the athletic competitions, you can rock out to the Indigo Girls, attend an LGBT Health Symposium, and hear great Gay Gospel music. A mere partial list of related cultural events at the Games includes a Virginia Woolf play and Mel Brooks musical, Love Makes A Family photo exhibit, ComedySportz, Choral Extravaganza, DanceSport Gala, House of Blues, and a Rock ’n Roll tour!

Unfortunately, I won’t be there when the torch is lit next week in Cleveland, but I’d love to be able to join in this super-fun and fantastic social-change sports event in 2018. As this year’s Gay Games begin, I’ll be en route to work with our Aikido Youth Peace Dojo in Hawassa, Ethiopia.

So good luck and thanks to all our outof-the-box out-of-the-closet sisters and brothers playing their hearts out in Cleveland. It’s getting better for us all!

“Bay Times” columnist Jamie Leno Zimron is an LPGA Pro, Aikido 5th Degree Black Belt, and Corporate Speaker-Trainer.

Contact her at jamiesensei@thekiaiway.com BAY TIM ES AUGU S T 7 , 2 0 1 4

Noe Valley artist Irene Hendrick is displaying her acrylic and watercolor works, BIG HEART ART, through August at Olive This Olive That, a proudly lesbian-owned shop at 304 Vicksburg offering all things olive including olive oil, tapenade, and balsamic vinegar (I recommend the coconut flavor). The theme is reminiscent of her childhood in 1940s Britain. My two faves are “Some Like It Hot” and “Does Your Mother Know” with queer subtext. irenehendrick.com and olivethisolivethat.com

(LUSCIOUS continued from page 17)

I’ve been blessed to win a few golf gold medals at the Maccabiah Games in Israel (international Jewish Olympics). I know how empowering athletic activity can be, and what a wonderful vehicle it is to cultivate human connection, capability, character, and simple health and joy. Sport is universal, and it’s amazing to have the Gay Games standing alongside the Olympics, the Maccabiah, Pan-American Games, Arab Games, World Croatian Games, Special Olympics, World Transplant Games, Deaf lympics, Commonwealth Games, and many other such gatherings.

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These and other captivating questions will be addressed and undressed (get ready to see bare butts and torsos) in this silly, sensible, sexy show.

Matt Alber

LGBTQ immigration rights, and to help those seeking asylum find safety in other countries where their lives will not be endangered. It’s a bit like the early days of the Holocaust when Jewish refugees tried to flee Nazi Germany. Today, LGBTQ refugees are seeking asylum in the U.S. and other countries and we want to ensure they receive all the assistance they can get.”

As a final thought, Nol offered, “You occasionally see a queer artist on an awards show, or at a big festival, but their queerness is pushed to the side, as if it doesn’t matter. The thing is, it really does matter.”

Tickets and Festival Information: www.lusciousqueermusicfestival.org

Round About – All Over Town Photos by Rink

Khmera Rouge and Emperor JP Soto at Cinch Bar attending a benefit for Bay Positives

Enjoying the Launch Party, held at the SF HIlton’s CityScape penthouse, for GLAAD’s 2014 Gala (to beheld on September 13) were John Marez, co-chair; Lauren Dowling, GLAAD director of development, and co-chair Christopher Vasquez.

Film director Nadav Schirman; former Shin Bet official Gonen Ben Yitzhak; Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of a Hamas leader who spied on Israel for a decade and the Jewish Film Festival’s Jay Rosenblatt on stage at The Castro Theater

Sgt. Lisa Frazier and a friend at the Up Your Alley Fair

Singer/songwriter Aprylle Gilbert, author of Good Enough for Myself, performed at the Castro Farmer’s Market

Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of a Hamas leader who spied on Israel for a decade, attended the Jewish Film Festival’s Opening Night Party at the Contemporary Jewish Musuem. Yousef’s film, screened during the Festival, was adapted from his book The Green Prince

Shannon, with his colleagues representing the UCSF Health Project, provided free testing at the UP Your Alley Fair MASH tent

Actor Theodiore Bikel (second from right), with (left to right) film director John Lollos, festival executive director Lexi Leban, Amy Bikel and John Rosenblatt, at the Castro Theatre where Bikel received the Jewish Film Festival’s Freedom of Expression Award given at the screening of Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholem Aleichem. Bikel starred in more than 2000 performances of Fiddler on the Roof.

At the Jewish Film Festival’s Opening Night Party, Marke enjoyed the Wise Sons’ chocolate babke cake

The SF AIDS Foundation booth at the Up Your Alley Fair

TransformSF, HIV testing for the transgender community, sponsored by the API Wellness Center at the Up Your Alley Fair Chanteuse Ethel Merman at the Up Your Alley Fair Sister Zsa Zsa at the Up Your Alley Fair Maitri executive director Michael Smithwick and his partner Jerry Weller volunteering for security at the Up Your Alley Fair SF Suicide Prevention’s booth at the Up Your Alley Fair Right: Up Your Alley Fair attendees 27

BAY TIM ES AUGU S T 7 , 2 0 1 4

Left: Sister Leather, Novice Sister Hera and Sister Selma Soul collected contributions at the entry gate for the Up Your Alley Fair